Commuting Between London & Oxford???

My wife and I are trying to relocate to the UK -- specifically London. She just interviewed for a job in Oxford. Is it realistic to commute between London and Oxford each day? She would need to use public transportation since we won't have a car.

Has anyone tried this? Know how much it costs? How easy it is to do? Any advice would be appreciated!

Its about an hour by train I think.
I know people that commute similar distances - all depends on what you are used too. Trains do get very crowded, but then your wife will be travelling in the opposite direction to most commuters.

For an idea of train times and length of journey take a look at:

http://www.railtrack.co.uk/ [nofollow]

...and click on the timetable link - then you can type in start (London Paddington) and destination stations (Oxford). Give you an idea of train frequency and journey times at any rate.

As for cost - first of all sit down , and then take a look at:
http://www.thetrainline.com [nofollow]

i haven't met anyone who does this commute, but the 2 places are 60 miles apart.

we live around 20 miles NW of london (just outside the M25) and it takes us about 45 minutes to drive into oxford.

check where the job is in location to the train station...some companies list 'oxford' as address but are actually in the outlying areas.  my husband's head office is 'in oxford' but then we found out it's actually just outside the city ring road.  MUST have a car when he goes there. bus commutes can be very tough.  it also takes another 10-15 minutes to walk from the oxford train station into the actual town centre (where all the shops are).

you might want to consider a town between the 2, although i think the train line would go through berkshire, which is one of the most congested traffic area to head into london.

good luck!

*

It is possible to comute from London to Oxford. One of my husbands friends does, but he and his wife are rich and this job is for him to keep himself busy then for money.

Anyways I know the season ticket between the two is really expensive and it may or may not be worth it to you guys. The trip is between an hour and an hour to two hours depending on the number of stops the train has. The train line that runs between the two goes through cities like Slough and Reading on the way to Oxford.

The trains that go on this line are always busy and sometimes you are hard pressed for a seat. There have been several times I have gone into London just for the day from Reading or even Oxford and haven't gotten a seat for the entire trip and that hasn't been during rush hour.

Honestly in my opinion its a hard enough trip for those who comute from Reading to London every day or visversa, I can't imagine how stressful the trip would be to Oxford. It would have to be a really good job for me to do such a commute.

To answer your question as to how easy it is to do, it is fairly simple. The trains leave from Paddington Station and go direct to Oxford with a stop or two along the way if it is the iner-city First Great Western Trains. So you don't have to change trains too often.
Goodluck to you!

I used to do this journey on a regular basis and offer the following observations!

1. The train is  VERY expensive (a mind boggling Day Return price of £31, unless you travel off peak) - the bus is MUCH cheaper, more frequent (every 10 mins or so, even running through the night), more comfortable and it even drops you off at various locations around Oxford and London - see www.oxfordtube.com and www.oxfordbus.co.uk/espress1 for details of the two companies that do this route.  The only downside is the time it takes and the fact you will get stuck in traffic - average journey times are 1.5 to 2 hrs (the train is 1 hr)

2. The train is not bad, it goes at least every 30 mins (more in rush hour) although the actual trains are a bit dated and can get very packed as you approach London, but getting on at Oxford means you should always get a seat.  Trains are now run by First Great Western (see www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk) - they have just acquired the franchise from the previous operator, so things may get better??!!

3. The train drops you at Paddington, which is then a tube ride to anywhere else.  Paddington is served by the utterly hopeless Circle Line - possibly the worst line on the Underground - however, on the plus side, the Bakerloo line also serves Paddington and this is a good service.  So, check on where you want to get to in London.

4. Maybe live in between London and Oxford?  Reading is OK (it won't win any awards for architecture, but it's a pleasant, if busy, biggish city and great for public transport) - otherwise there are some nice towns and villages strung out along the Thames Valley rail line  (Maidenhead, Taplow, Windsor).

Good luck with the move and the jobs!  Oxford is a great city and London is a lot of fun! Any more questions, let me know!

Yes the train would be very expensive. I used to communte from Maidenhead to London (which is lot closer than Oxford) about 5 years ago and my monthly travelcard was nearly £300 if my memory serves me correctly.   Some people I know are communting in from Reading at the moment and they are finding it very hard going.   If your wife is offered the job it might be worth her while to check if the employer offers a season ticket loan, many large companies and organisations do.

The Oxford Tube bus runs very frequently between the 2 cities and an annual pass which costs £940 works out to only about £2 each way.  The only problem is, on their website it says the average journey is 100 mins. and longer during the rush hour, that's a heck of a long time.
http://www.oxfordtube.com/

Driving to Oxford can be absolutely hellish.  The junction off the M40 can be hellish especially during rush hour so this might add on a lot of time for a bus journey although there are bus-only lanes.

As for the train, it may be 1 hour from Oxford to Paddington but then you have to get from Paddington to wherever you'll live and factor in changes.

How close is the job to the train station?  If you live near Paddington and the job was by Oxford station then she'd probably be looking at no more than 1 1/2 hours journey.

Matt

Um - the original post is over 2 years old... 

Um - the original post is over 2 years old...

I've heard of starting up an old post...but this takes the cake.   

Oh yeah!  Never looked at the date.  Oh well, maybe this will be some of use to someone!

Yeah, def. It's useful info for a lot of folks. Not wasted effort at all.

Yeah - I meant to go on to say that I'm sure it's valuable information - I just wanted to let people who were posting know that the actual individual situation was probably a little out of date!

But any sort of commuting information is ALWAYS welcome here!  In fact, I'd even go so far as to suggest this become a sticky topic for all the great links in the posts....Graham?

Oh yeah!  Never looked at the date.  Oh well, maybe this will be some of use to someone!

ditto! i wonder what happened to them!! maybe thye are still stuck on the M4!!

But any sort of commuting information is ALWAYS welcome here! In fact, I'd even go so far as to suggest this become a sticky topic for all the great links in the posts....Graham?

I *had* noticed that date, but as you say commuting discussions are of use to people who are looking to come across the pond and wonder if 60 miles is a long way or not in UK commute terms, illustrated with examples.

Beside - I have a bit off a soft spot for Oxford - I'm actually writing this reply from Summertown, Oxford (the Summer bit is a misnoma this week!).

I'm reluctant to clog up the board with "stickies" ... but I do think that something better than the magazine style (where things fade away with time even if useful) would be peculiarly helpful on travel. Something I've been intending to do for a LONG time, and may even have a few days to do it over Christmas.