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Commuter tales
By Helen Beckett
Moaning about the journey to work has become a national past-time, but hardened commuters are becoming adept at turning dead time into new possibilities. The average Brit travels for seven hours per week – the equivalent of one extra working day – and 60% go further than they did in the 70s. They do it by car, bus, train and plane, while the more adventurous take to the roads on bicycles and rollerblades.
For most jobseekers applying for work outside their home town, relocation expenses are rarely on the agenda. It’s more often a question of commute it or forget it. The danger is that the journey may be OK on an occasional basis, but it becomes hell as a daily routine.
Jonathan Yuill, a daily commuter for 20 years from Witham, Essex to Central London says: “I’ve been detrained, detained, derailed and delayed. My trains have been hit by missiles thrown from the trackside, and once we hit a herd of stray cows.”
If you want to avoid commuter burnout, here are some ideas to help you make your journey good for business, your health, your social life and even your love life:
Form a commuter club
One friendly and enterprising bunch of passengers has been commuting on the Winchester to Waterloo line for years. The members of the group save seats for each other, down gin and tonics on the way home and even meet up at weekends. The singles have formed their own set and go on holiday together, transforming a daily grind into a social network.
Romance by rail
A BBC survey highlighted the potential for commuter romance; after all, commuters are spending up to two hours a day getting to and from work. Liverpudlians are especially flirty it seems: not only do they work some of the longest hours in Europe, but 39% are single. Southport to Moorfields is the most popular train route for romance (47% of respondents have been on a date with a fellow commuter) closely followed by St Helen’s Central to Lime Street.
Beef up business
Commuting time is no longer wasted time; you can send emails from your mobile phone and whole cities are being converted into wireless hotspots. ‘Locationless’ companies are the new phenomenon as employees plug into the internet between customer visits, logging on in airport lounges or at their local coffee bar. Get your work done on the journey to work and you can leave the office earlier.
Mind your manners
‘Acts of God’ and the inconsistencies of the rail companies may be beyond commuters’ control – but good manners are within everyone’s reach. Top irritations for commuters are people talking on their mobile phone, travellers getting on trains before everyone has got off, and people who fail to say “excuse me” and “sorry”.
“On yer bike”
Norman Tebbit’s famous words, originally urging people to get off the dole and find work, have been taken up by a new generation of commuters. In cities all over Britain, workers have got on their bikes because it’s quicker, and good for their health and the environment.
Commuter cool
And finally, alternative commuting methods provide a chance to make a style statement. Rollerblading and even unicycles are hitting the carriageways while, for the style-conscious, the retro chic of the Vespa scooter is hard to beat. Ridden by Audrey Hepburn in the 50s and nowadays by Gwyneth Paltrow, the Italian-made scooter looks cool and, best of all, uses little fuel.
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