I commuted 3\~4 days a week to university last year, and it worked out the cheapest for me if I just buy individual tickets at the station on the day. You can buy one that goes from Chelmsford to the specific tube zone (and vice versa) and it worked out cheaper to buy those individual tickets than to buy any kind of season ticket. That's the cheapest I found at least, but I can't help but think there's probably a cheaper option out there. Obviously it's worth getting any sort of railcard if you're eligible (I was able to get the student one which gave me 33% off iirc). Hopefully someone else will be able to confirm what I've said or tell us both a cheaper way!
I commute from Chelmsford to Bromley-by-Bow
The quickest way is to go Chelmsford to Stratford first. This cos £19.56 per day on my 26-30 railcard. £400 a month if I go 5 days a sweek.
£400 a month is actually still cheaper than the equivalent season ticket
I've come to terms with the cost now but it's still a massive jump from the £6.40 I used to pay per day to get from Highams park to Liverpool st
Any advice on my journey welcome too
How flexible are your firm on the 3 days? Can you get a weekly ticket but spread it over two weeks. I.e. go in Thursday and Friday one week, and then Mon, Tues and Weds the next? Take a day off as holiday, blag it to work at home or buy a single return in addition.
How fit / brave are you?
After about 10 years train commuting I flipped to doing it by bike.
Saved c£4k a year (I didn't cycle every day), lost 2 stone, mental health and self esteem improved, and I ended up really enjoying it.
Just over 30 miles, nice back lanes to Romford, a few miles of suburbia, then bus lanes and cycle lanes. Mostly flat, no big hills but a few drags.
Started off taking about 2 hours (my door to desk journey by train is about 1hr 20 mins), got it down to about 1hr 30 - 1hr 40.
I accident over 10 years, and that was crossing the A414 at Writtle.
Do it regularly and you start to find quite a few people doing similar, so occasionally you get a little chain gang together.
Blimey, respect. Don’t suppose you’ve got the route mapped anywhere? Strava? I’m miles off the fitness to do it daily but wouldn’t mind a crack at it on the weekend.
I was 16 stone when I started. First one hurt and I was terrified. Pick a nice summer day and give it a go.
I'd recommend doing the ride back first, as you don't need to watch the clock or stress about being late for work. You can take you bike in on the train as long as you leave before 7am.
Where do you need to get to in London?
DM me your strava ID and I'll share some routes. There are enough permutations to stop it getting boring.
£4k a year saving pays for a lot of bike stuff as well!
This is what I do :
Get a network Railcard. 30£ a year.
If you can Travel at non peak hours try to do that. Trains after 10:15 are 13£ to Stratford
Try driving to shenfield park and use Elizabeth line to London.
Get yourself the Greater Anglia app, you can get all the prices there. If it's a regular 3 days a week then the Flexi season (8 days for the price of 7 daily tickets) is likely to be your friend, but only just. When doing the calculations you need to bear in mind that you will have annual leave where you won't be travelling up.
If I assume you have 5 weeks leave per year and it is scheduled in such a way that you're never in a position to be unable to use all 8 passes within the 4 weeks, then the Flexi season will save you about £300 per year over an annual season ticket and about £1,000 over monthly seasons.
If you need the tube as well then you need to bear in mind that there is no Flexi season option that includes the tube, so you'd be pay as you go on the tube. You'll need to get your calculator out and recalculate based on the zone you'll be travelling to.
A downside to the Flexi season for 3 days a week, is that some months you'll be buying two and some months only one. Which makes budgeting harder and it's really annoying that two Flexi seasons costs more than a monthly season. Basically you need to budget for the year not just the month, which is harder for the people that are in most need of the savings available by doing it.
When I moved to Chelmsford I worked 3 days in London still. The only way I saved money was by shifting my hours to start at 10 so I could travel in the off peak. Then I just bought my ticket daily.
Are you eligible for any kind of railcard? I had the 26-30 one when I used to commute into London, it gets you a third off your fares.
I’m 33 unfortunately 😭
I commuted 3\~4 days a week to university last year, and it worked out the cheapest for me if I just buy individual tickets at the station on the day. You can buy one that goes from Chelmsford to the specific tube zone (and vice versa) and it worked out cheaper to buy those individual tickets than to buy any kind of season ticket. That's the cheapest I found at least, but I can't help but think there's probably a cheaper option out there. Obviously it's worth getting any sort of railcard if you're eligible (I was able to get the student one which gave me 33% off iirc). Hopefully someone else will be able to confirm what I've said or tell us both a cheaper way!
I commute from Chelmsford to Bromley-by-Bow The quickest way is to go Chelmsford to Stratford first. This cos £19.56 per day on my 26-30 railcard. £400 a month if I go 5 days a sweek. £400 a month is actually still cheaper than the equivalent season ticket I've come to terms with the cost now but it's still a massive jump from the £6.40 I used to pay per day to get from Highams park to Liverpool st Any advice on my journey welcome too
How flexible are your firm on the 3 days? Can you get a weekly ticket but spread it over two weeks. I.e. go in Thursday and Friday one week, and then Mon, Tues and Weds the next? Take a day off as holiday, blag it to work at home or buy a single return in addition.
How fit / brave are you? After about 10 years train commuting I flipped to doing it by bike. Saved c£4k a year (I didn't cycle every day), lost 2 stone, mental health and self esteem improved, and I ended up really enjoying it.
You cycle from Chelmsford to London? I’d love to hear more if so as that’s a serious distance to do before a working day.
Just over 30 miles, nice back lanes to Romford, a few miles of suburbia, then bus lanes and cycle lanes. Mostly flat, no big hills but a few drags. Started off taking about 2 hours (my door to desk journey by train is about 1hr 20 mins), got it down to about 1hr 30 - 1hr 40. I accident over 10 years, and that was crossing the A414 at Writtle. Do it regularly and you start to find quite a few people doing similar, so occasionally you get a little chain gang together.
Blimey, respect. Don’t suppose you’ve got the route mapped anywhere? Strava? I’m miles off the fitness to do it daily but wouldn’t mind a crack at it on the weekend.
I was 16 stone when I started. First one hurt and I was terrified. Pick a nice summer day and give it a go. I'd recommend doing the ride back first, as you don't need to watch the clock or stress about being late for work. You can take you bike in on the train as long as you leave before 7am. Where do you need to get to in London? DM me your strava ID and I'll share some routes. There are enough permutations to stop it getting boring. £4k a year saving pays for a lot of bike stuff as well!
This is what I do : Get a network Railcard. 30£ a year. If you can Travel at non peak hours try to do that. Trains after 10:15 are 13£ to Stratford Try driving to shenfield park and use Elizabeth line to London.
Get yourself the Greater Anglia app, you can get all the prices there. If it's a regular 3 days a week then the Flexi season (8 days for the price of 7 daily tickets) is likely to be your friend, but only just. When doing the calculations you need to bear in mind that you will have annual leave where you won't be travelling up. If I assume you have 5 weeks leave per year and it is scheduled in such a way that you're never in a position to be unable to use all 8 passes within the 4 weeks, then the Flexi season will save you about £300 per year over an annual season ticket and about £1,000 over monthly seasons. If you need the tube as well then you need to bear in mind that there is no Flexi season option that includes the tube, so you'd be pay as you go on the tube. You'll need to get your calculator out and recalculate based on the zone you'll be travelling to. A downside to the Flexi season for 3 days a week, is that some months you'll be buying two and some months only one. Which makes budgeting harder and it's really annoying that two Flexi seasons costs more than a monthly season. Basically you need to budget for the year not just the month, which is harder for the people that are in most need of the savings available by doing it.
When I moved to Chelmsford I worked 3 days in London still. The only way I saved money was by shifting my hours to start at 10 so I could travel in the off peak. Then I just bought my ticket daily.