Commuting from Cambridge to London, yes or no?

I’m thinking of applying for a job just near to King’s Cross. I’d be commuting from Cambridge North three times a week.

I know there are a few other Cambridgeites on the forum – do any of you do this commute, and if so, what’s it like?

I did Huntingdon to kgx for several years. I wouldn’t do it again unless I had to. That said, I’ve worked with a few people doing London to Cambridge and they’ve said it’s ok these days, but trains are still unreliable.

It’s a big chunk of your non work day to lose in my opinion.

I did huntingdon to kgx for a couple of years too.
I have a bunch of colleagues who do the London to Cambridge commute, it is generally reliable but seems worse than the east coast main line.
I wouldn’t do it again personally but it would depend on the job and if you think it is worth it.
Just make sure you have a backup place to stay should it go pear shaped and you can’t get home. I guess you could do Liverpool st as an alternative if forced.

Also, if you can work on the train it might make it worth it, that way you can lose your commute time in your hours

Regardless of the route I think it depends on the job and employer if it’s a long commute. I used to do 1.5 hrs each way on trains 3-5 days a week and a full day in the office and would often work extra on the train. Utter shit.

Now I do that once a fortnight at a more flexible employer and include the travel time in my work day. Makes a massive difference.

Have done upto an hour’s commute in the past pre kids, wouldn’t do it now, life’s too short.

Not done it myself but had ex-colleagues do to central London, so an extra 15 mins on a bike / tube past KX. It’s only just over an hour, so door to door probably not much worse than many people’s commutes. Depends how long you are expected to be in the office (office culture) I wouldn’t expect to do anything those evenings. Obviously currently strikes are a pain. Biggest thing is the cost if you must be in 3 days every week and have to be in by 9 am, that’s £600 per month extra take home you need to cover the cost.

life’s too short.

This was kind of what I was thinking.

It something of a dream job in many ways. But….

Right now my commute is about fifteen minutes if there’s a headwind, ten minutes if there’s a tail wind.

That additional 2 hours would inevitably come out of my dog-walking time.

I left off the bit about my current commute being 25 mins down the canal on the gravel bike, beautiful dog btw!

9 hrs commuting for a 37hr week. It’s a lot of time. I spent 10 years driving 60 miles each way. I like trains a lot more, but eventually you resent the travel time. My new commute will also be a hour via Elizabeth Line. But it’s better to have a miserable commute to a great job than vice versa. Much better.

You need to consider the actual commuting time, not just the train journey.

I was living in Kent and going into an office in London. Train journey was 48 minutes.

Door to door was moor like 1hr 20mins, you need to be at the station a few minutes before and then you need to get to the office.

It was awful and expensive.

My commute is an hour each way, though a good chunk of that is walking. I do it twice a week. Before covid I did it 4 times a week and now look back and wonder how. I do however work flexibly which helps a lot. I’d not under estimate how much it takes out of your day – from that perspective I far prefer my working from home days. Any chance you could get the three days a week down to 2 once you are settled in? Would be relatively manageable.

I used to daily commute Peterborough to KingsX then onto wherever the Client was. The train bit was only 50 minutes but was very unreliable so often longer then wrapped with travel to/from the station and to/from the Client. Usually ~2hrs each way.

It was horrible. If you’ve a choice, don’t do it. Do the things you actually enjoy rather than frittered your precious time away on a disgusting train with mostly grumpy people who also don’t want to be there.

Thanks for the replies!

Any chance you could get the three days a week down to 2 once you are settled in?

I had a chat with the person who would be my manager a few weeks ago; increasing the number of days in the office would be no problem….

I’ve just now emailed them to say that I can’t do it. I think it would just be unfair on them tbh. Deep-down I think I know that what I really want is to spend more time walking my dog and cycling.

I did Cambridge/Cambridge North into Kings Cross for just over 3 years.  The train time itself isn’t all of it though, as you’ve got overheads each end.  In Cambridge I cycled to the station, so had to allow 10-25 mins (depending on station) to get to the station, then time to lock the bike, time to get to the platform for the train etc.  Once you get to London it depends how far from Kings Cross you are, walking distance is ok but the tubes can be awful depending on the line.  So train is about an hour, plus 30 mins Cambridge end and 10 mins London end and you’re already looking at 2 hours there and maybe a bit less home but an increased chance of having to stand for most of the journey.  It was nearer to a 12 hour day than a 10 hour day most days, not allowing for the bad journey you get about once or twice a month or if you want to go out with colleagues after work or work late.

In the end I decided less money was worth the hit, as quality of life was better without the commute.  Now kids are in the mix I definitely wouldn’t do it again.

As above, don’t waste your time on commuting if you can avoid it.

A good friend of mine used to do that commute 5 days a week until he was diagnosed with bowel cancer. Died aged 36 leaving children aged 6 and 3.

If he could have had the hours back he’d spent commuting…

I forgot to mention, I’m 15kg lighter than when I worked in London, partly happier and healthier mentally, partly down to current commute being by bike.

It was a good job that I learned loads from and the experience was great, but give me the option of a good train commute over a crappy dog walk and I’ll grab the lead every time.

@oldnpastit Very wise. P’raps change your username to ‘oldnwise’…? 🙃

its nicer the other way round as the trains are empty! cambs salary vs london living costs not such a great ratio though!

just to offer the flip side. I do an hour’s commute each way and do it 2 or 3 times a week.  I really value it as downtime to get shit done I can’t do otherwise or even just to relax.  I tend to use the way in to prep for the day ahead and clear Slack/email. Then I use the way back to read my book/watch TV and unwind so I can then enjoy time with my family when I get home.

On days when I am at home it’s straight from work into childcare and that feels like a grind. Appreciate I could try and find time at home to take a break in between. But it doesn’t work. The commute forces my hand!

I commuted about 90 mins into London some 15 years ago. When I started I had black hair, on my last day 3 years later, I’d gone grey.

It was my favourite ever job with some really great people but the journey killed it.

My boss left for the same reasons.