All aboard!

More reliable than Greater Anglia or South Western Railway, there’s a cast of commuters bound for the capital that you can’t miss, says Madeleine Silver

Illustration by Adam Larkum

The army officer-turned-management consultant Six months ago, Joffy was deploying a battalion of infantrymen to eastern Europe; now, he’s bent over a laptop bound for Waterloo amending the fonts on a PowerPoint presentation. Yet old habits die hard and, on the eve of a commute, he polishes his shoes (he’s the only management consultant not in trainers) and preloads his cufflinks into his shirt, ready to do battle on the 06:24. In the depths of January, he puts his half-alive station runner through the wringer along the icy Dorset lanes—this is the SAS of commuting, more than two hours each way on the stopping service—but, by late April, he’s rewarded by stepping off the train into a Thomas Hardy nirvana. Lunchtime is spent romping along the Embankment at tabbing pace and, on the…

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Country Life (Digital) - 1 Issue, January 22, 2025

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