In the last couple of months I have been forced to make use of the rail network in London due to no tube lines stretching out to South East London. Not that I like the tube, it’s dusty and hot but I will use it if I absolutely have to. I have now traveled at all times of the day to give you a low down of my experiences and hope they benefit you when you travel around London.

1. Stand behind the yellow line – Seriously, it is there to keep you safe from trains not scheduled to stop at that station that travel at high speeds. A lot of people stand on the platform reading either a Metro newspaper or are listening to music on their iPod. You are not aware of trains coming in at all times, if a train hits you, not only will be you be either dead or in ICU but you will inconvenience thousands of commuters trying to get to work or home
2. Recycle Newspapers – Common courtesy is to read your paper in such a way that you can leave it for the next passenger to enjoy and not be bored shitless like you would have been and plus, it’s good for the environment.
3. Train Times – This can be super annoying if you get it wrong as rail companies due alter the amount of trains running due to peak times and off-peak and you may wait up to half an hour on a platform if you get it wrong.
4. Research – We all know that rail companies have pushed up prices by 8% this year which is crazy since a lot of people did not get a pay rise. So, my advice would be to see if you really do need that extra zone, can you bus it for 10 minutes instead or walk? Fine, if you want to be lazy, then do not moan. Yes, they are sharks for charging so much for no improvements but we all know that won’t change any time soon. I work in Central London but I don’t pay Zone 1 prices, I get a Zone 2 & 3, a train from Zone 3 to Zone 2 (Elephant & Castle) and then I jump on a bus which is still covered under my travel card.  I save myself £40 each month, lots of people do it, find your station that is on the cusp between two zones.
5. Water aka Liquids – Always carry a small bottle with you, you never know when you get stuck somewhere on the track with signal failures, yes, they do happen quite often. You also might want to avoid those vending machines on the platforms as they charge extortionate prices.
6. Twitter – Who would have thought that Twitter can be so useful to Londoners when commuting? I follow my rail company as I get updates on delays and failures much quicker than their own website. News spread fast on twitter especially when someone has been bit hit with a train and it causes major delays.

There are plenty more tips but I thought I’d share these with you for now. Feel free to add more by commenting below.