So, last night had me thinking...what is people's longest (and shortest) commute by bus/train? This includes walking time between stops too. Note that this does not include taking diversions to catch deliberately unusual workings.
For me I would say the longest Commute I've done is 2 1/2 hours (there again the 276 was late meaning I had to wait half hour for a X96 meaning I had to wait a hour for the 226 because the X96 arrives merry hill the same time the 226 leaves!!)
Shortest must have been 45 minutes...the 226 and 267 connected and then the 267 and 276 did again without any waiting...
I would say when I do have to catch the bus, its 5 minutes from home to the 301/302 stop, around 630am, with a short wait. The aim is to catch the 700am 313 from Walsall. Get to Wednesbury Parkway around 725am then a 15 to 20 minutes walk down the Spine Road to Apex 2 Industrial Estate, where I work, so just over an hour.
Coming back is dependent on what time I step out of the office (hopefully half 4) & how long I wait for a 311/ 313 & if I need to go to Tesco Walsall on the way back! (Normally around 6pm!)
It's a long day & the management don't appear to give a xxxx about as my lift asked at the team briefing last week if we were ever going back to Willenhall & the answer was no as there is no room there now.
My own manager's answer was' Learn to drive' but I don't see why I should!
To work its 74/75/16/46 to town
Then 37 to Solihull
82 to Coventry
585/85 to University Hospital
Worse case 900 then as above
Smethwick Galton Bridge to Crewe (1 hour)
Smethwick Galton Bridge to Aberystwyth (3 hours)
Smethwick Galton Bridge to Pwlheli (5 hours)
Birmingham New Street to Bristol Temple Meads (2 hours)
Smethwick Galton Bridge to Stratford-upon-Avon via Shirley (1 hour)
Waiting for a 45 in town 2 weeks ago.
25 minute wait in City
90 minute journey to Longbridge
All in all nearly two hours to go about 8 miles. Go to London in that time. Or Welshpool on a train! How oh how I hate the Pershore Road in peak!
Longest on the 59 for me is:
30 minute wait at W'ton Bus Station (And its every 5 minutes supposedly!)
Then 40 minutes from W'ton-Lichfield Rd (By Poundstretcher in Wednesfield)
Buses
Sheldon to Leicester General Hospital (2hrs 25minutes-2hrs 40minutes)
900 Sheldon to Coventry (45minutes - 1hr)
X6 Coventry to Leicester (1hr 20minutes)
16 City Centre to General Hospital (20minutes)
Trains
London Paddington to Plymouth - 2hrs 45minutes (Talking between 2000-2005)
Birmingham New Street to Paignton - 3hrs 5minutes
Birmingham New Street to Plymouth - 3hrs 35minutes
Birmingham New Street to Newquay - 5hrs 53minutes - July 2010
Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh - 2hrs 35minutes - Between 1991-1994
A few years ago now, the longest commute would have had to been from my parents' house near Oldbury to Gravelly Hill Industrial Estate. This involved catching the 120 into Birmingham and then the 67 to the Tyburn Road. The mornings weren't too bad; I'd catch the 120 about 7:20am, arrive in city just before 8am then walk to catch the 67 and arrive at work just before 8:30am when I was due to start. One evening though, I finished at 5:30pm, waited ages for a 67, then the 120 from city took an unscheduled diversion via Harborne due to the Hagley Road being closed because of a traffic fatality; I didn't get home until near 7:30pm as a result.
My longest ever commute was a bit extreme.
It was when I was working near Snow Hill station and living in Stratford. I left work at 4pm on Maunday Thursday 1998 and finally arrived in Stratford on Good Friday at approximately midday. So around 20 hours!
Of course this was due to extreme circumstances, namely some of the worst flooding in the area for ages. It had been raining all day on the Thursday, and by late afternoon the Railway was flooded. The roads were too, so there was no chance of replacement bus services being provided, and the X20 bus had been suspended too.
My Dad offered to come pick me up from Dorridge, but he couldn't get out of Stratford. So I had to admit defeat and stay overnight in a hotel. Eventually I got home the next day by train to Leamington (with the water lapping up to the rails near Warwick), then Central Trains had put on taxis to Stratford as they were still unable to run trains to Stratford.
So I guess that any current delays seem like small fry in comparison! ;)
It took me from 16:50 to 18:30 to get home yesterday evening. Caught the late running 76 (which is rare actually as the 76 is usually on time) to Solihull; just missed the 17:42 S2 by 5 minutes so had to wait for the 18:17 S2! Never have a problem getting to and from Kings Heath from/to Solihull thanks to the 76, 11 and 6 and in the worst case scenario the 49 and 50. All of which take only 40-50 minutes in journey time. It's usually waiting for an S2 which is determining how long the commute is!
Smethwick Galton Bridge to Manchester Piccadilly (via Crewe)
xx:08 to Crewe, xx:34 (from Crewe) to Manchester Piccadilly (via Manchester Airport)
Departure time: 12:08, arrival time: 14:42