Breaking free from the Tube
Commuting via the London Underground (or Tube) is part of many Londoners’ daily lives. Most commuters spend roughly 30 mins to 1 hour each way on the Tube. You’ll find that the Tube is fairly reliable and will get you to your destination on time. But what happens when you take the Tube every weekday for more than 5 years. Here is my story on how I broke free from the Tube.
I started taking the Tube back in 2011 for commuting purposes on the Central Line from Barkingside to Tottenham Court Road. My journey door to door was about an hour. I used to live about a 25 minute walk away from the closest station and initially I took the bus to the station. This continued for about 4 years. During this time how was my experience in the Tube? In short, great but I wish I could’ve used my time better. Everyday I spent 40 mins going in and 40 mins coming back. I memorised the position on the platform which would stop exactly where I would get off and be ahead of the pack, I knew at what time exactly I had to leave work so I could catch the early train, anything later and my commute would be more than an hour because the bus timing wouldn’t sync up. I tried to use this time constructively to read books or play mind training games.
From my experience the Central Line was largely reliable, I would give my rough rating of 95% of reliability, this is based on a whole year of commuting only 5% of the time I would fail to reach my destination or my commute would take more than an hour in total. As time went on I noticed a few observations that can be broken down as follows:
- Compared to 2011 the amount of people on the Tube increases every year. Around 2008 when I first took the Tube I could easily find a seat. Now even if I arrive early I never get a seat. These capacity issues are very real and they show up at peak time.
- Delays became more regular. At least once a week my train would be delayed more than 15 mins due to various reasons (passenger alarms being most common). The bus journey was highly taxing because it was less reliable than the Tube.
- The price of my ticket went up significantly. I remember it used to cost me just £30 to make a weekly pass. Now it costs £50.50, I remember I used to make my pass on 30 December to get a discount because the cost would go up every year.
- Alternative routes would mean I get home after 3 hours. I had to take District Line which was very slow at that time, then take a bus from it’s first stop to the last in peak time traffic.
- I felt like I wasn’t in control of my journey, delays would add a few mins, passenger alarms happening. Sometimes it felt like ages just waiting between stations especially when the driver doesn’t update the passengers.
- The Tube was generally safe and that didn’t change even with extra passengers. Sure you get the odd incident every now and then and I have heard plenty of stories of racial abuse and anti-social behaviour on the Tube. Most violent incidents would happen outside of peak times and late night / early morning, so I’d try to travel between peak times.
I soon replaced my bus journey with walking or cycling. This meant that I completed the bus journey in 10 mins consistently on the bike. It saved me a bus fare and I got to the station faster. After that I moved around a bit and my journey time varied. Then came the tipping point, I accepted an offer for a job in Paddington, I lived in Barking at that time. Normally I would avoid long commutes but this opportunity was too good to pass up on. No matter what route I took my commute time was around 1 hour or more door to door. I lived 30 minutes walk away from the nearest station and spent at least 50 minutes on the Hammersmith and City line almost end to end. I recently had my first child and this meant leaving very early and arriving very late compared to what I was used to. I endured this commute for about 3 months then I knew I had to do something as this was getting too much.
I sat down one evening thinking of ways on how I can shorten my commute. I didn’t want to move closer to my workplace because all my family, friends and social life was in and around the Barking area. West London is more expensive, so I would take a big hit in my income. Driving was not an option, CrossRail kept getting delayed and construction works started near my station so my commute got longer. I decided to cycle, it worked for me before, my unreliable 15 bus minute journey became around 7 mins consistently as I became fitter. I looked on Google Maps and the journey was about an hour. I decided to take the plunge.
I never really had a background in cycling, as a child I rode my bike around my house every now and then. I only ever rode a mountain bike, so I went with what I knew best, I went to Argos and got the cheapest foldable mountain bike I could find as I didn’t know if this would even work. I decided cycling all the way would be too much, so I took the C2C Train to Fenchurch street and cycled from there. I put my navigation on Google Maps and begun cycling. My first journey took me 3 hours to get to Paddington, yes 3 hours doing about 7 miles! Even with a map I got lost many times and when I came to work I was completely knackered. Then I came to the realisation that I have commuted to different places in London but I never really knew the roads of London very well, I only knew the immediate vicinity of my workplace and food places. Even with the above I surprisingly really enjoyed the journey, I always enjoyed a good adventure, going past St Paul’s Cathedral, Oxford Street and Hyde Park was an absolute joy. The journey back was via Marble Arch, Trafalgar Square and along the Thames had me smiling on my way back home.
My commute time was shortened to about an hour thanks to my bike and shorter train ride but it my cycling was very slow, everyone would just overtake me, mainly these road bikes. Many of my peers at work that rode in with their road bikes said the amount of effort you put in was significantly less. Before I tried a road bike I wanted to do the whole journey, yes the whole 16.5 miles journey from my door to the office door. One morning I left very early at 7am and started my journey through Ilford, Stratford, Whitechapel then eventually into Paddington, the whole journey took 4 hours. I remember feeling a sense of accomplishment and empowerment when I made it the whole way. After a few days I rode back which took about 4 hours. I greatly enjoyed the experience and I knew this was the start of something amazing. It was the first step to break free from the Tube.
Over time my times improved significantly as I became fitter. On my mountain bike I got my time down to 1 hour 30 mins each way. That’s when I bought my first road bike and moving from a mountain bike to a road bike it was like I was riding to work on air. My commute time dropped to about 50 mins each way and I was in full control. I noticed that I was saving about £160 per month compared to travelling on the Tube. I had to learn how to keep my bike in top condition by getting the best tires, a comfortable seat, chain lube and fixing punctures. Another side effect was that I’m a lot fitter now : )
Many of my family members raised concerns about safety. Let’s face it every year we hear about cyclists getting run over or getting into accidents. Has this been an issue for me? I believe London’s cycle lanes are quite advanced and I follow the same rule as driving, everybody is trying to kill you and you have to save yourself. Never compete with large vehicles and always wear a helmet. I definitely had a few falls and clashes with cyclists but nothing major. I think I got more pulled calves and cramps than any major accidents. This has not been an issue for me and London cycling is generally safe. What about the weather, it’s always raining or very cold? Yes during heavy rain I do not recommend cycling, as for the cold and light rain buying the right equipment is enough to mitigate this.
I hope you enjoyed reading how I made the transition from the Tube to cycling to work. Please share your stories below and feel free to ask any questions about commuting via cycling, I would be happy to help.
