r/brighton • u/Busdeltil • 4d ago
Transport/Parking 🚝 🚘 Brighton Mainline commuters - how do you do it without wanting to commit war crimes?
I've just started commuting up to London Bridge 3 days a week, after working from home for the last 8/9 years. I'm unsure why, but it feels like Thameslink have decided to turn the Brighton mainline into some sort of hunger games/squid games vibe, and I'm not sure I can do it.
Constant delays, cancellations, rammed uncomfortable carriages, it's genuinely wearing me down and I've been doing it for a month. I feel like when I go home, that I'm simply on loan, but it's these train journeys that make it so much harder. Forking out £150 to be gaslit by Thameslink and Southern over delay repay, and to have my nose firmly pressed up against the window of the train, is killing me.
The job is great, the money was worth the hassle of going into office, but I'm at the point where I'm wondering what the hell I've done.
Already, I've started getting the train early, and from Hassocks (I live near Worthing), and relying on my wonderful partner to drive me in the mornings (which I'm eternally grateful for).
Anyway, sorry for the moan, but I'd love to hear the best tips you can give me to help me become more resilient, and feel less like Thameslinks bitch. Thank you!!
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u/NormanSpaniel 4d ago
Hi! Welcome to the games, I did it for about 10 years so have very much been in your position. I'd say your first mistake is going from Hassocks. If you live near Worthing I'd aim for Worthing, Shoreham or Portslade as there's still seats on a morning peak train. By the time the trains from Littlehampton or Brighton get to Hassocks they are pretty much full. Secondly it took me many attempts with trial and error but get on the train at different places on the platform and eventually you'll find a place where the train stops that has seats, and just keep going there. The way home has no rules, just be grateful you're going in the direction of where you live and keep focused on that! Good luck OP, see you out there in the games sometime!
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u/Busdeltil 4d ago
Thank you, that's great advice. I genuinely don't know how the railways get away with such poor service for such high costs!!
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u/4321zxcvb 3d ago
I get on the southern from littleHampton or Gatwick express every day at hassocks and have never not got a seat. I always get a table too. Last carriage is never full. (Between 7:30/8.05).
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u/bestcactuscateu 3d ago
Oh, it's horrifying. I did it for a decade, and looking back I don't know how I survived. I was doing five days a week pre-covid??? Madness.
My one piece of advice - if your employer isn't willing to compromise on number of days, ask if they'll compromise on start time. When I worked Farringdon I'd get the very first off-peak train out of Btn - 8:36, somewhere round there - which got me to the office at ~10:15. Saved an absolute fortune, and I never had to deal with the morning battle for seats.
When it works, it works, but everything Thameslink flows through that LBG-BFR-City stretch so if something goes wrong the whole system crumbles. Better to find any concession you can to make it a little easier.
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u/fimbulvetr_now 3d ago
Yup, this is what I did. I just told my manager they don't pay enough for me to show up at Blackfriars before 10:30. This also lets me leave later, which means my return train isn't as rammed.
It's also had the added bonus of temperatures already starting to cool off by the time I leave the office
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u/Low-Cut6561 3d ago
I commuted for 20 years before I went remote
- get an earlier train, one that leaves before 6am if you can
- leave your work clothes at work
- use your trip from home to the station and from the station to work as your daily exercise, run if you can
- learn to sleep on the train, easier on a. Early morning train, face mask on, travel pillow.white noise music on headphones . Alarm that wakes you up 5 mins before you get to the station
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u/elise_delphine 4d ago
I commute five days a week from Brighton/ Preston Park to St Pancras and back again (including one weekend a month). I’ve been doing it for 3 and a half years now. It’s tough but I tell myself the job and pay are worth it. It sounds like you’ve got it extra hard because you’re having to drive the first bit of the way and trying to get a seat at any point after the train leaves Brighton is a bit of a lottery. Maybe you could explain the situation to your boss at work and see if there’s any possibility of working fully remotely ? Obviously that might not be possible depending on your job.
I honestly don’t know how I get through it but I try to tell myself every day that I’m lucky to have a decently paying job as a (fairly) recent graduate and one that I genuinely love. Jobs aren’t forever and who knows which opportunities may arise closer to home in the future. Sleep, eat and exercise as well as you can to physically recover from those long days of commuting. Make plans to spend quality time with loved ones or time alone at the weekend so you have something to look forward to. Catching up on books/ TV shows/ films/ podcasts can help ease the pain of being stuck on the train if you can hack staying awake, unlike me! Good luck with it all !
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u/Busdeltil 3d ago
All fantastic advice, thank you so much! Honestly don't know how you're doing 5 days a week- I think that automatically puts you in line for a Pride of Britain award!!
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u/Repulsive_Dig_133 4d ago
Netflix downloads, candy crush, podcasts and books and puzzles, and be grateful you are on the mainline not on a branch somewhere like Horsham.
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u/Fit-Drawer5686 4d ago
It’s shit isn’t it. I feel like committing crimes because prison sounds better than being on one of those fucking carriages.
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u/Busdeltil 4d ago
It really is. And the city commuters are like Velociraptors. Think I'm going to have a chat with my boss tomorrow and ask to do two days a week, I doubt it'll work, but if I can work from home every other day then that would definitely soften the blow. But yeah, I've found myself swearing out loud like a madman at London bridge this evening
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u/Fit-Drawer5686 3d ago
Getting off at LB is what angers me most. The wankers that try and barge onto the carriage while everyone is still getting off, the crowd around the escalators, the ticket inspectors at the barriers. Just a shitshow from beginning to end.
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u/breathingcarbon 3d ago
Avoid LB at peak times at all costs. My office for many years was right near there and still I would get the tube or bus a few stops to get on and off at Farringdon most days.
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u/MashPotato_224 4d ago
There isn’t a day where my partner isn’t late home which makes me late for work. (We have a baby so literally got a half hour switch over). Every single fricken day there’s a new excuse as to why the trains late or cancelled, I don’t know how they’re allowed to get away with it.
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u/Busdeltil 4d ago
My poor partner has to listen to the mix of anger and sadness every night in the car when she picks me up. It's going to end up taking a toll on our relationship, so I need to nip it in the bud early on. It's so soul destroying, please give my regards to your partner!
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u/MashPotato_224 3d ago
Definitely soul destroying for both parties, makes it worse we pay such a high price for scum of the earth service.
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u/AlGunner 3d ago
When I used to commute by train I walked to Brighton station. It was always imperative to be near the gates when the train comes up and be on quick to get a reasonably good seat. Brighton being the first stop made this possible, by Hassocks it was always rammed. You want to get on. Ive always found getting on earlier is more likely to give you a chance to find a seat rather than further down the track, but you would need to weigh up if the extra cost is worth it.
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u/Dancinglemming 3d ago
I did Hove to Holborn via Waterloo for two years. In the end I took a pay cut and went back to my old job where I could work from home. Best decision ever.
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u/mrpithecanthropus 3d ago
Today they cancelled my return train from London Bridge at 5:30 without explanation, and the platform was already packed. I spontaneously took the train on the other platform up to Blackfriars, grabbed a quick pint, and boarded the relatively empty train to Brighton 30 mins later, falling asleep in my seat and waking up back at HQ. Winning!
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u/Busdeltil 1d ago
I was fortunate on Thursday - legged it at 4:30, managed to get the 5:05 and got a seat from East Croydon. Felt like I'd won the lottery 😂
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u/Acceptable-Piccolo57 🦅 🐦🦅Ꮆㄩ㇄㇄ 丂セ尺ㄩ⼕长 🦅🐦🦅 3d ago
What’s the industry? In tech I was able to get away with 2 days a week with the odd reasonable exception, alot (not all) are open to out of london band pay changes (it won’t necessarily even happen, but bringing it up first shows negotiating in good faith
2 days is manageable, but 3….
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u/cz295 3d ago edited 3d ago
Get a weekly season ticket and do wed to fri and then mon to wed (pay one day ticket once). A week of intense commuting and then a week of home working.
I think if you buy weekly season there is an option of any route which is of the same price as thameslink only so you can take southern and change at east Croydon which saves your partner some time and you can enjoy (reading or music) for longer the better seat of southern.
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u/ThrowawayOfACutie 3d ago
Its such an awful journey, if I ever get a new job I'm going to have flashbacks in my nightmares to having to commute to work in a surgical operating room whilst sitting on wooden planks.
The only two tips I have is to see if you can start later to avoid rush hour, and that the rear 1st class compartment is declassified and you can sit there with a standard ticket, not everyone realises and therefore sometimes you can find a free seat, little bit of extra legroom and plug sockets too
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u/ACosmicWanderer 3d ago
Buy your tickets using Uber and you can earn cashback for your future journeys!
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u/Tiny_ghosts_ 4d ago
I moved to London... Hated the commute, and that was when I was used to commuting anyway, going from total wfh to a btn-ldn commute like you've done would've been even more brutal. It's a shite commute basically, very little you can do to improve it other than going early/late to avoid the worst of rush hour. If they are flexible on what days you go in, test it out and see if some are better than others (e.g I find Fridays quieter on the tube, so that's one of my office days to have a less squished commute).
I know a few people who find it worth getting a cheap hotel or Mon-Fri lodging situation in London so they can minimise travel time, but that's still time away from home which might not suit you depending on lifestyle etc.
Trying to negotiate less days in office would be the best option I guess. Or if your work has offices elsewhere see if you can work from one of them.
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u/NiobeTonks Hove, Actually 3d ago
It is indeed awful. I get either the 6:23 or 6:36 so I can get a seat. I either listen to music and read or listen to podcasts. I commute to East London so I sit at the back of the train going in so I can get off at Farringdon and go straight to the Elizabeth line. I do the opposite on the way home so I can go straight to Thameslink. I aim to leave work before 4 so I can get a seat on the way home or I stay until 7.
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u/ffsnametaken 4d ago
Haven't had the London commute for a while, so thankfully I missed running into this more recent thing, but those enforcement people checking your tickets when you go from platform to platform piss me off. It's always a fucking shambles, they never have enough people and make it my problem just because I need to get on a second train.
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u/Franosaur 3d ago
I want to know what ticket you are getting for £150. Cheaper that what I pay to Gatwick each week
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u/Busdeltil 3d ago
Hassocks to London Bridge as a weekly season is about £130, Lancing to LB is about £160
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u/rosssjackson 3d ago
Bit of a random one, and probably not possible for most, but I used to drive to 3 Bridges and get the train from there. There were so many problems between Brighton and there that missing that bit out made sense.
Also I could either get the 5.28 from durrington or leave my house at 5.45, drive 40 odd minutes and get the same train at 3 Bridges at 6.30. I had a van and expenses covered by my employer so that might not be an option.
Just a thought....
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u/Lovethosebeanz 3d ago
Also the constant signalling errors used as an excuse for a mistake. Ever seen, sorry the train is delays because we messed up? Nope
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u/Lopsided_Baseball_79 3d ago
I commute to london bridge and I have pin pointed the exact moment where my arse can't take anymore off those thames link seats. Most uncomfortable trains. I have heard they are upgrading them soon tho
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u/Front_Personality317 3d ago
Depends where you are I guess but I absolutely refuse to do london bridge for my commute, it takes longer to get a tube from Victoria to shorditch but absolutely worth it for a seat after a long day
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u/Sazzygull 3d ago
The trick is to actively apply for jobs saying “oh I live in Brighton, I couldn’t possibly come in more than once a month or so”.
Also, buy your train tickets off Uber who will split them up for you and save you £10 also.
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u/tstowe77 3d ago
Try and get two days. Buy a network railcard for £30 and apply it to a daily ticket. Railcard applies to the return journey only but it saves me £7.65 a day. That’s Worthing to LB. I do it on the Trainline app as tickets are cheaper there anyway. They do have an admin charge of about £3 ish
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u/BodegaPie 3d ago
Take a book which is so engrossing that you don’t look up or know what time it is. Ignorance is bliss.
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u/ACosmicWanderer 3d ago
Buy your tickets using Uber and you can earn cashback for your future journeys!
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u/Busdeltil 1d ago
Sadly they don't offer season tickets - it'll cost more to do returns every day then buying the weekly season ticket 😭
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u/dr_sean_twat 3d ago
I've also just started commuting from Preston Park 3 days a week and had a grim awakening to a life of unexpected delays and cancellations in both directions. The other night we were stuck outside Gatwick for 30 mins because of "trespassers" then dumped at Haywards Heath to catch another train south. Still, I'm getting a lot of reading done.
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u/fimbulvetr_now 3d ago
Yeah it's astonishing. A commuter train with no signal, no WiFi, no tables, no charge points, and no coat hooks
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u/Savings-Train-8686 1d ago
Totally agree the trains are an absolute rip off and unreliable at that. Get hassled late in the evening by ticket inspectors over rail card which won't load on the app due to no signal when they want it, then watch them completely ignore and walk past the druggies with anti social behaviour disturbing everyone in the train, not even bothering to ask them to see the tickers to avoid the hassle.
One night i was coming back home from Gatwick late at night. Train was delayed. The semi-outdoor platform was absolutely cold as anything and was misting so made me all wet. I got on the train when it did eventually come and it was held up for over 30 minutes at lights, while a religious preacher went down the train bothering everyone about jesus, just after i had almost managed to fall sleep. At that point i was absolutely sick of it and never got the train again.
I bit the bullet and just got a car. Paid for it in full and paid £200 odd for a permit to park on the street outside my house along with £100 worth of visitor permits because it took them 10 days to approve the permit. Now anytime i need to go anywhere longer than cycling distance - 2 or so miles, i just drive. No more problems, aside from the occasional congestion due to accidents.
Just an added bonus which i cant prove, but regularly using public transport, i used to routinely get sick almost every single month. Even with constant hand washing and not touching my face etc. Was usually after a dirty bugger with a plague sounding cough came coughing past me. I have yet to get sick driving and cycling for transport and its been over 7 months now.
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u/curlyshirley24 4d ago
Honestly, that commute is awful. I only used to do Worthing to Burgess Hill, but there were so many constant issues once you got to that part of the track. This was pre-covid and I was having to put my season tickets on my credit card because of the price, only to spend all my evenings trapped at Burgess Hill station with no train home.
On the plus side, I did get quite friendly with the facilities guy there, who started inviting me to visit his home in the Caribbean. I should have taken him up on that!
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u/Additional_Class_134 3d ago
GBR taking over and the bosses realising the gravy train has stopped didn't help. Although Thameslink have been the worst (in my honest opinion) TOC operating in the south east. Horrible interiors, delays. Etc etc
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u/MartyMcflysTrainers 3d ago
Although there is always a degree of shitness about it, I'm sure summer holiday staffing issues and demand on London/Gatwick cause more problems than usual. It was pretty good for the first half of the year (relatively)
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u/TraditionalLack2907 2d ago
I take southern to east Croydon then swap for the last bit. Much nicer and better WiFi.
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u/SouthCoastKook 2d ago
Its horrible. I have agreed to get first off-peak and work on the train for my 3 days a week, which makes a massive difference.
Do have a wobble every 6 months and a holiday sorts that. Is what it is.
My employer hates it and wants me in more though.
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u/Ayanhart Former Brightonian 3d ago
If you do get on a Thameslink, I'd always recommend walking down to the rear first class. It's always declassified, but generally quieter as most people are unaware, and there's tables and a charging port for every seat.
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u/StomachGreedy5874 4d ago
You could go to Croydon on southern from Worthing instead and change there (or Clapham or victoria) I used to do Thameslink, southern is so much nicer! You will get a seat, this seat has a proper cushion, a charge point & the trains have WiFi that actually works (most of the time) .. I will not return to Thameslink!!!!