Long Distance Commute

sinbadfury

Anyone been doing a long distance commute from a better part of the country to Dublin on a daily basis for work?

Thinking of taking the plunge, but looking for thoughts/opinions on how it is going, has standard of life improved as expected etc.

Co Wexford would be the area in question

Cheers

FrCrilly

Hi,

Can't answer your question directly, but here's some info I wrote on a commuting thread once that you may find of interest.


Firstly I’ll give you a Gorey free route from Wexford to Dublin. (You don’t say where exactly in Wexford).

It’s possible to go through Bunclody, Carnew, Aughrim, Rathdrum and then come out onto the main Dublin Road at Rathnew from which you would have dual carriageway all the way to Dublin. This is not a foolproof route but it may be worth experimenting with if you have to go through Gorey at peak times.

In terms of parking, Shankill Dart Station has a long estate road which as far as I’m aware is free parking. To avoid traffic congestion on the Bray/Shankill bypass, it is possible to take the Fassaroe exit (from the Bray/Shankill bypass) and take backroads to come out beside the Esso station near the church in Shankill, which in turn is near the Dart station. (Look this up on a good OS map).

An advantage of these 2 routes combined is that if you hear on AA roadwatch of a crash between Rathnew and Dublin causing major delays, which seems to happen quite regularly, you could avoid the whole thing by taking backroads from Rathdrum to Shankill via Enniskerry. I think from memory, a good portion of these roads are not lined but fairly straight. (Again, look this up on a good OS map)

Again I say, these routes are not foolproof but may be worth at least experimenting with.

Hope this helps

Moonbeam

The commute from Rathnew to Dublin in the morning is bad enough with out starting in Gorey,

I personally don't think 4 hours a day in a car can add to your quality of life.

sinbadfury

I agree about the time in car. But with us living out of a bag every other weekend, while visiting family in the area, coupled with the fact of value for money in regards to a house over Dublin, the fact that I find that stress in dublin (traffic, queues, general hassle getting around) is a 7 day issue in the capital compared to the obvious relaxed atmosphere down in Wexford, I am beginning to think that it might be worth it.

As we are both non-dubs, and always said we would not get caught having to 'follow a job to Dublin', long term we are moving out anyways. This is just he first step in that direction.

I was just hoping that someone was going to say they had moved back home, and though in fact in was somewhat difficult during the week, they think they made the right move?

leeroybrown

The questions I would ask are:

1) How much more time and hassle would you have commuting from your chosen area as opposed to living in whatever area of the Dublin commuter belt you would otherwise put up with?

2) Is this extra time worth what you see as the increase in quality of living?

3) Do you think this is a realistic strategy in the longer term or will you be stuck either having to take a job you don't want outside Dublin or moving back?

sinbadfury

To answer your questions:

1. At the mo, up to 1 hour in the car gets me through Blanchardstown, and up the M50 and into work, this morning (trial run this week from the parents house) 2.5 hours got me from Wexford town to work, dropping the wife into the city center. Basically the working day goes from up at 5:30 home for 7:30pm.

2. I am a big fan of value for money and 400k can go a lot further in Wexford (where prices will continue to rise once bypassing of Gorey opens), than to Dublin 15 area, where a semi worth 400k in a decent area seems a lot more volatile to me. Weekends and holidays are much more relaxed than Dublin where a trip to blanchardstown center on a sat or sun is basically the same as rush hour traffic in the mornings.

3. I think it is. work wise we have options but they will just need some planning. Besides, having lived in various places over the world, we have come to realise that things do fall into place once you make a decision.

I guess we both are a bit 'tired' of life in Dublin, especially seeing as we were born in the south east and have lived in other countries and know that life doesn't have to be as hectic/stressful as it is at the moment in the capital.

It's a big decision I agree, I am still a bit split over it......any testimonials would be great....

BostonB

I know someone who commuted from wexford town to dublin for about 2yrs and eventually it wore them out. So they bought a smaller place half way and that suited them better.

ionapaul

Commuting such a long distance also works out to be very expensive with regard to vehicle costs (shorter life, extra maintenance, etc - unless you have a company car!), petrol and sundries, so in addition to losing hours of your day actually driving, you spend many thousands a year due to the commute (any tolls on the route or planned?). Commuting isn't very cost-effective!

nesf

ionapaul wrote:

Commuting such a long distance also works out to be very expensive with regard to vehicle costs (shorter life, extra maintenance, etc - unless you have a company car!), petrol and sundries, so in addition to losing hours of your day actually driving, you spend many thousands a year due to the commute (any tolls on the route or planned?). Commuting isn't very cost-effective!

It's a cost that many people don't factor in. Personally I can't ever see myself willing to do that kind of commute to get to work. The thought of it makes me shudder. To each their own though I suppose.

the_syco

Ever think of moving to a place near a train station? Hourly (and more at peak times) trains from Maynooth-Leixlip-Confey-Coolimine-Clonsilla-Castleknock-Ashtown-Broombridge-Drumcondra-Dublin Connolly takes about 1 hour. Sit down and snooze, tbh. Tickets cost usually €30 for a weekly "bus & rail" ticket.

Dunno about commuter trains to/from Wicklow, tho. Think about the train option, tho. No traffic jams, no worries about red lights. Usually the same time every morning (give or take 5 minutes).

sinbadfury

Commuting wise I dont think we could get any better than we are at the moment, we are only 5 mins drive from one of the train lines on the maynooth line. Commute time to the city is approx 40 mins max.

We basically don't enjoy and don't want to continue living in Dublin, as work is th e only thing that really has ever had us here. It is such a relief to get out of the city at the weekends and we always feel bad coming back up on the Sunday night, so this seems logical to us.

Regarding car costs, I agree that you will be filling up with diesel more often and the servicing light will come on more regularly, but the are other savings you get from living outside the very expensive capital that will cover *some* of that extra cost. Personally, and my wife is not entirely in agreement with me here here either, is that an extra hour in bed in the morning is not reason enough to sway my decision on where to live, a routine adjustment and a better focus Mon-Fri is all that is needed. Better time management I guess.