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Is commuting 45 minutes to university reasonable?

Hi there,

My question is basically what I've asked in the title - is a 45 minute commute reasonable, and are there any disadvantages of commuting (NOT including social life disadvantages!)? I'm going to be studying Medicine at Manchester and need to travel from Leeds to the university every day.

Thanks in advance.
(edited 11 years ago)

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Reply 1
Well I hope so, because I'm planning to do the same!
Reply 2
Original post by tallen90
Hi there,

My question is basically what I've asked in the title - is a 45 minute commute reasonable, and are there any disadvantages of commuting (NOT including social life disadvantages!)? I'm going to be studying Medicine at Manchester and would like to travel from Leeds to the university every day.

Thanks in advance.


It's perhaps reasonable - that was the length of my commute to school - but it's going to cost you one hell of a lot...
Also interested because if I apply and get into Manchester I'll be debating a 50minute/hour train ride + walk time commute everyday and staying at home, vs. taking an accomodation loan and staying in the halls. :smile:
I commute an hour's train ride so 45 minutes sounds reasonable to me. As with most things, there are advantages/disadvantages and whether they balance really depends on the type of person you are.

Advantages are that you can use that time (if you're using public transport) to look over work, read the books etc, an excuse to get out of socialising on those days you really can't be bothered ("sorry got a train to catch!") and financial benefits (if you aren't spending the time going out like most students you generally end up saving more money than you lose through commuting).

Disadvantages include relying on public transport (if you're using public transport) to be effective. Problems are rare but there have been the odd occasion where I've had to miss a lecture. At the very best, I've had to 'powerwalk' to uni to get into a lecture just with time to spare. I should point out if you're reading this and panicking that this amounts to less than 1% of the travelling. I suppose this would also depend on how frequent your train service to said place is because if there's a train every 15 minutes, it'll be less of a problem than if there's one every hour. In my course that isn't too bad but in a course like medicine that is a bit more intense it might be harder to catch up. If you're driving, I'd imagine (I'm just guessing here, I can't even drive LOL) that coming in rush hour would be a nightmare to put up with everyday. Another is how intense your timetable is. If you've got an early start you have to add in that travelling time to your day so waking up earlier and getting home later than the average student who has to walk 5-15 minutes to their halls. It's not all bad but there are some days where you just wish you could tap your shoes together and say 'I just wanna go home.' The other disadvantage is that it can get lonely at times because those in halls will know each other. I know you said not to include social life disadvantages but I can not stress enough how I don't think anyone should commute if they live outside the local area AND they need friends/a social life to function. Some people feel lonely and act like it's the end of the world. If you are one of these people, do not commute.

That's my advice from just one commuter. Others may disagree as I can only go from my own experience :smile:
Reply 5
i commute 50 minutes, :smile: it can be a pain but i'm only in uni two days a week this year (third year) so i'm hoping it will be better than last year! its not such a pain outside of rush hour but for 9am starts it is an absolute nightmare, i generally end up standing for the entire journey. :mad: i lived out for the first one and half years though, and the extra money now is definately nice!!
I'll be commuting, the journey time varies from an hour and ten minutes to an hour and a half. Hoping I don't have too many 9am starts, I'm really not much of a morning person.
Reply 7
I commuted for the first two years of uni, it took me roughly 75 minutes each way.

I'm sure you are aware of the advantages which are saving money and able to focus more.

But let me tell you the disadvantages...you can focus more on studies only if you feel that at home you have a good working environment. I lived in a house with 4 younger kids so you can imagine how crazy my house was. This led me to only revising at uni so I would make daily commutes to my university library and study there. It was hard.

Also you may not save as much money as you think, I spent a lot on eating out with friends so take care with spending budget. Check for train or bus passes. There's one called System One which is pretty good (although every year it rises above inflation!!) you still save money and its very convenient having it.

Public transport in the UK is awful. I don't know if people have ever used the Northern Rail but it truely is awful. During peak times they seem to use the worst quality trains and there is so much overcrowding that you can't actually study on the train unless you have like podcasts or browse on your phone. Trains can be very unreliable, a direct train to the station which was close to my uni was just every hour so if you missed it, you are screwed. I'd say 10% of the time there would be a delay of 20 minutes or greater, another 10% of a delay of 10 minutes. So thats 20% of delays greater than 10 minutes....it can get very annoying trust me. Don't believe the statistics the train companies provide they think a delay of 8 minutes is acceptable as not being delayed....Its not in my opinon lol.
There have been days where I just get so angry inside thinking about how the trains get so late and can get so overcrowded.

During exam time, public transport also becomes an issue because you have to ensure you arrive before the exam starts so if you have a morning exam then you need to wake up very early. There could be a small chance your train delays or stops midway. I had to wake up at 6am, get ready and be on the at 7am so just I could be in the city by 8am.

Making friends is obviously more difficult but still possible just be proactive and speak to lots of people. If your parents are happy for you to go on nights out and stay over at someone's hall then that can be helpful in socialising.
I had to walk 35 odd minutes to my uni building from my accommodation. If you're excluding the social problems, I can only see the cost being a problem.
Reply 9
As long as you can manage it and the price to commute isn't too much then there's nothing wrong with it :biggrin:
I would say 45minutes is fine. I know people to have to travel for similar times and they live at uni. I know plenty of people who spend 30mins on the tube and then walk.

It depends on the cost both socially and financially. I wouldn't recommend it first year when social groups are formed, and I doubt you would be saving much money with train fares. Moving home later on can be sensible financially, I just finished doing it, but I wouldn't want it during first year.
It's possible but not really ideal if you can help it. It will feel like you're working rather than studying. Medicine is pretty intense and has a lot of hours - would you be happy leaving at 8am and not coming home until after 6pm every day? And then do your private studying? Commuting is tiring and the last thing you'd want to do is study after an hour standing on a train full of smelly people. What about access to the university library?

Rents in Manc aren't that high; if you're looking to spend more than £60 a week commuting, it might make more sense to rent a room. You'd probably end up spending money on drinks/snacks at stations plus lunch (unless you make your own which is time consuming) which will push up your expenses even more.

I thought about commuting and worked out tickets would cost £57 a week. So I got a room for £58/week inc bills.
45 minutes lmao,

thats nothing m8
Original post by Thugnificent.
45 minutes lmao,

thats nothing m8


I know I'm travelling 2 hours each way every day.

Posted from my Galaxy note
Reply 14
Sure, 45 minutes is fine. I chose to walk to uni in my 2nd and 3rd years - a 45 minute walk - and enjoyed it. If you're worried about losing time from your commute, what about listening to audiobooks?
Reply 15
I know you said not to mention the social disadvantages, but they're the reason I'd recommend against. It's manageable otherwise (lots of commuters travel for far longer periods of time).
Reply 16
My commute is about that (Enfield into Regent St) and it's fine. Anything up to an hour is pretty good - I mean a few of my friends have commute times of 90 minutes!

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Reply 17
If I take the bus, I'll only need 5 minutes to reach my uni :awesome:

If I walk, maybe around 20-30minutes.
Reply 18
Original post by tallen90
Hi there,

My question is basically what I've asked in the title - is a 45 minute commute reasonable, and are there any disadvantages of commuting (NOT including social life disadvantages!)? I'm going to be studying Medicine at Manchester and would like to travel from Leeds to the university every day.

Thanks in advance.


is it 45 mins from the moment you walk out of the front door?

or is it 45mins in train/bus time?

if its the former, then it should be manageable
Reply 19
Hell NO.

Have none of you heard that the fuel is running out.

Commuting is all about energy, petrol in the car, electric train etc..

The prolific, wasteful squandering of fuel - And there is none left to squander - get with the picture.

Have none of you heard of Peak Oil Theory? No One Read Kunstler.... The Long Emergency ?

Commuting is so ' last century '

That way of life is all but over.

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