North West commuters

[Clecko]

With our fingers crossed that the chain holds, Mrs Clecko and I have sold our house in the dry east and will, subject to contract, be moving back 'home' to the drizzly north west some time this 'summer'.

I have an agreement with my current employer whereby I will spend two nights and three days in London each week, but it is possible that either they or I won't want that to go on forever, so one of the things I'm considering in my choice of location is commuter links.

I'm set on living in mid-Cheshire (ish) and the most likely location for a future job for me is Manchester. The obvious place to live would be Crewe because of the quick trains, but it's not for me.

I wondered if there were any NW based commuters who could fill me in on the good and bad train lines or what travelling into Manchester by car is like these days (horrific, I imagine).

Anyone?

[frankus]

I wouldn't mind escaping that direction too some day. Well done for getting the company on side - that's quite tricky.

[tomRA]

Having lived in Manchester for years, I've now moved to Stockport. The trains that go nearest my house from Piccadilly are bound either for Macclesfield or Alderley Edge. When I still worked in Manchester, they seemed prone to the usual spurious delays about once a week. No worse than any other really, and better than the Oxford Rd-Liverpool trains I used to have to put up with daily.

In a car, there are problems around the M56/M60 Wythenshawe link melee, getting from the Heatons to Altrincham took about 45 mins (9 miles).

If you're coming down the A34 into Manchester, remember the dual carriageway fizzles out in Burnage and then you have to crawl in through Levenshulme etc. Didsbury to Oxford Rd station in a car used to take anything up to an hour, but averaged about 40 mins. (about 8 miles).

[trolley]

If you move to Northwich, Sandiway or Plumley, there's a train straight into Manchester.
Once you get towards Knutsford or Macclesfield the house prices rise exponentially!

[Open_Gee]

I'm just near to the M67 on the Eastern Edge of Mcr, and used to work in Stockport, the M60 is a nightmare between 7 and 9, and I wouldn't fancy getting into Mcr at this time.

[Red Rabbit]

If you are still looking around the Disley area then you pretty much be right on the Buxton to Manchester train route. They run every half hour during peak times but can be pretty cramped unless they've started using all four carriages recently.

You'd also be right on the A6 which gives you a nice easy route straight into Manchester. Traffic can be slow moving during term times especially once you get into High Lane/Hazel Grove. I only work in Stockport so I don't know what the traffics like going right into Manchester.

As an added bonus you'd be right on the Cheshire/Derbyshire border giving you very easy access to some wonderful countryside.

[manicguitarist2]

We live in sunny (!) Lancashire, in a rural area (we get duck invasions now and then...), Mrs Manic works in Stockport, and I used to work in central manchester.

From here, driving to Stockport is easy (the M60 is a breeze if you avoid Barton Bridge), and also there are regular (clean & quite posh) buses into Manchester that take 40mins to central Manchester.

[Kerpunk]

Get yourself in Glossop. The train there is rather good. I can count on one hand the amount of times it's been delayed over 5mins in the last two years.

[manicguitarist2]

Get yourself in Glossop. The train there is rather good. I can count on one hand the amount of times it's been delayed over 5mins in the last two years.

Which is a good thing, cos there is a traffic jam at the end of the M67 into Glossop 24hrs a day....

[Pendragon]

Monday to Friday, Warrington to Manchester during the 'rush hour' can be tedious with both the M62 & M56 being very sluggish - a normal 20 minute drive can take 60+ minutes. The train from Warrington Central to Manchester is often standing room only at peak commuter time, although there is a train from Warrington Bank Quay which is not crowded, so seats are available ... the journey takes a little longer though, about 45 minutes. Commuting via the M6 can be equally frustrating at peak commuter time - predominantly, south bound is congested in the morning and north bound in the evening.

Housing in Warrington can be expensive if you were looking for a South Cheshire property [Appleton, Stretton, Knutsford, Peover, etc] but Chapelford & Westbrook in the West are very nice areas and property is not as expensive as in the south ... Chapelford is a new development offering a range of accomodation from apartments to detached 5 bedroom houses.

If you're not travelling between 07:00 to 09:00 and 17:00 to 18:00, then getting around is easy whether by bus, car, plane or train. Liverpool & Manchester airports are only a 20 minute drive. Other than the congestion at peak times, Warrington is a convenient location for accessing Liverpool, Manchester, Chester, Altrincham, Crewe, etc - the Lake District is only 60 minutes away.