Ealing Broadway station has London Underground trains as well as overground trains passing through it. This station is a regular connection point for me on the way to work and back. Some people find it hard to believe that I get up to ten (yes ten!) different items of public transport every day - 2 buses, 2 tubes and 1 train to get to work - and the same to get back home from work. Ten in total.
At Ealing Broadway - I often find myself waiting for a few minutes on the platform for an overground train for the last leg of my journey to work. As I wait - sometime a high-speed, non-stopping, train passes through the station at what seems like in excess of 100 miles per hour. If you are stood on the platform on the side where the high-speed train passes through - you can often get a feeling of sheer exhileration as the train rushes past not more than one metre away from you. It’s a rush that has to be experienced to believe.
Yesterday - I caught this experience on video camera. The high-speed train was the Heathrow Express train - and you can hear the train driver sound the loud horn as he approaches the station. i am convinced that he sounded the horn for me - because he must have seen me standing there with my camera trained on him. What’s also perhaps interesting is the fact that you can see the reflection of me in the windows of the train as it rushed past me - less than one metre away!
Passing train rush.
Could almost feel the wind as the train rushed by. Nice video! And I spotted your reflection too!! But 10 journeys to get to work? Is that because work is really far away? Or because the two areas are not well connected? Surely, it must take you more than an hour to get to where you work? That’s a lot of questions, but I’m curious! (And btw, I loved the bus, if we had ones like that here, I’d take the bus everyday!)
Posted by: Anita on April 2, 2004 04:45 PMHi Anita: Glad you liked it.
Yes: 5 different journeys to work - 5 different journeys back. No - work isn’t that far away in terms of what Londoners are generally used to for commuting. You’re right: the start and end points are not connected by an easier route without having to go into Central London and back out again. And since I try to avoid that due to cost - I choose to “weave” my way to the destination instead. For example - the two bus journeys are quite short, the two tube journeys are even shorter - and the train journey is also quite short. So - a lot of walking, waiting and changing combined with shortish journey times amounts in total to around an average of 1 hour 15 mins each way. Sometimes - if the waiting times are short (i.e. if I’m lucky) I can do it in an just over an hour. On the other hand - if the waiting and journey times are long (i.e. I’m unlicky) then it might take 1 hour 30 or more. Every day is different.
Yes - the buses are rather special - and they are getting better every year too! Thanks to our Mayor of London - who is a real fan of the buses - and is pouring a lot of our money into them.
Posted by: Jag on April 2, 2004 07:50 PMIf I had to do that kind of journey here, I’d probably drop dead by the time I reached office! I was also wondering about driving to work. Is that a better option in terms of time or would traffic make it a difficult proposition?
Posted by: Anita on April 4, 2004 04:24 PMDriving would be a lot quicker - about 40 mins if I set off before 7am - but I choose not to do this because: a) I used to drive a lot in previous jobs and I ended up hating driving due to it being a mind-numbing, stressful chore and b) I get a lot of exercise going by public transport and c) I get a lot of thinking and dreaming to myself. So - all in all - I don’t mind for one minute commuting to work using the buses, tubes and trains. 1 hour door to door is common for most Londoners - so my journey time isn;t that far off the norm. (I know many people who do 2 to 3 hours each way!)
Posted by: Jag on April 4, 2004 06:55 PM