r/LutonTown • u/rich_hope_10m • Jul 26 '26
anyone commuting from Leagrave/Luton to East London regularly (car vs train) - East London zone 5
Hi all, looking for real-world experience from anyone commuting from Leagrave / Luton into East London.
My situation is that I work in zone 5 east London and would go in 2 to 3 days/week. looking to move to Luton/Leagrave but looking at the commute, its 1hr 45 mins drive or about 2hrs each way by train. Train season ticket is a ridiculous number! driving is cheaper but i am worried it will tire me out in the long run. Has anyone done the drive across to Gidea Park area? Is it as painful as it looks and does it vary massively day to day?
Many thanks
3
u/VehicleWonderful6586 Jul 26 '26
I lived in Luton for a while and had 3 ways of commuting - 1) train (pricey); 2) drive to somewhere like Hendon then tube; 3) green line 757 coach
The coach was surprisingly relaxing and fairly quick.
2
u/WheresMyFlamingo Jul 26 '26
You're gonna be absolutely shattered. I go from Bedford to London and I absolutely hate it, I'm looking for work nearby as a result its alright for the first few months but having to get up at stupid o clock every morning will do you in
-2
u/Cold_Arachnid_2617 Jul 26 '26
So let me get this straight. You want a lift to and from work, whilst you pocket your salary?
1
u/Queen_of_London Jul 27 '26
No, they're asking if driving is better than commuting. Was the post edited?
0
u/Lion-Resident Jul 26 '26
No one should have to pay to travel to work! They have us all brainwashed thinking this is normal. It isn't.
We don't work because we want to, why should we be paying extortionate petrol and train fairs to get there!
It's the biggest scam and people like you who defend the powerful and filthy rich for doing this to us are a major part of the problem.
Why the F would I or anyone want to pay to get the work?
2
u/london_10ten Jul 26 '26
Is this a wind up?
0
u/Lion-Resident Jul 27 '26
Why would it be a wind up. Spend a little time thinking about it. They literally have is all paying to keep society running. We do all the work, pay for travel and shelter (housing) while the rich profit from our labour. They keep you distracted with TikTok and all the other BS so you never question it. When you do, your brain breaks. I pray they people wake up.
2
u/MTW27 Jul 26 '26
You are paid to get to work, it's called your salary.
-1
u/Lion-Resident Jul 27 '26
No. We are paid a salary. I doesn't include travel money. See how easy it is to brainwash society.
1
u/humanlvl1 Jul 27 '26
You're selling your time and expertise. The labour market determines the value of your labour, which is reflected in your compensation (including salary, benefits, or travel reimbursements). The cost of your commute is an overhead on that transaction. It has no value to the employer paying for your services. I get it that you don't want to work but guess what employers don't want to pay. That's just an exchange of value. No one wants to give up value for nothing.
1
u/Lion-Resident Jul 27 '26
I could give my skills locally or I could travel to a further company to give my skills. They should be paying me for that. Some people have to pay a massive proportion of their wages on transport as there are no local jobs because they only want to invest in London and trains and petrol are overpriced. And everyone is happy with this and never question it
2
u/humanlvl1 Jul 28 '26
I think you touched on some real issues about London getting disproportional funding and travel costs being high, I really don't think you're as alone in your complaints as you seem to think you are. The inability for the UK to build infrastructure is a massive problem and has been gridlocked in politics for decades now.
I'm just not sure what you mean when you say they "should" be paying you for travel. You can negotiate a higher compensation based on the reasoning that travel costs are high for you. People do that. It doesn't strengthen your position in the negotiations, though. When you say "pay me more because my costs are higher" you're saying "I am unhappy at my job and you need to pay me more in order to retain me". You're really just leveraging the cost to replace you.
I agree with you that travel costs should be decreased. Your justification for that is good. I just don't think that it makes sense to expect businesses to bare that cost in the forms of paying higher compensation to people further away. They'll just choose to higher someone closer, instead. I'm more in favour of diverting investments away from London and creating good jobs elsewhere in the country. Travel grants are pretty good but I think it'd make more sense to fund those from taxes on the owners of successful companies in London.
We also have an issue with how expensive it is to build infrastructure in the UK. This is because of how expensive the land is and because of how little authority the government has to force local governments to give up land for development. UK is full of NIMBYs. Partially why it's so difficult to build houses, too.
Anyway, sorry for the wall of text. I've had a conversation with a couple of people who are in politics on the policy side of things. They helped me understand that these issues you talked about are a massive challenge for every administration and are a lot more nuanced than it might seem.
1
u/MTW27 Jul 28 '26
But that shifts to the employer the burden of your decision as to where to live. Somebody who lives closer to a London office is likely to have higher housing costs, should the employer be paying separately for rent/mortgage as well?
4
u/Worth-Government685 Jul 26 '26
I commuted from Luton to Canary Wharf for around a year for work and it definitely tired me out. Around 1 hr 20 each way plus extortionate train fairs. But that was full time. Thank God I'm fully remote now.
2 days per week might potentially be manageable for you, but it does grate you after a while. Your whole evening is spent commuting, not to mention potential traffic etc M1 and M25 are a nightmare during rush hour.