Does anyone know how I can fund or pay for my travel to and from Oxford to London? I have recently left my job and is self funding my PhD and really would like help and advice as to support this new venture. Advice would be greatly appreciated!

Is this a journey you're doing regularly as a commute for your Phd, or is it a one-off trip to use archive materials or go to a conference? If the latter, then you might be able to get a travel grant from your department. If the former, then you might just need to get another job! Make sure you've got a young person's/student railcard, or the buses are fairly cheap.

Young person's cards on trains are not valid for season tickets or when travelling at peak times, unfortunatly :-(

If you are a little flexible, this is how you need to go about it:

- Leave late, get home late. I also commute from outside of London and have found that when I take a train that arrives in London before 10am, the return trip costs me £11.80; if I leave before 10 but arrive in London after 10 it costs me £6.55; and if I leave after 10, it costs me 5.60. That's less than half. That is, assuming you have a Young Persons Railcard. This has the added advantage that you avoid the big crowds and actually get to sit on the train and do some work.

- Save by not going in every day. Don't buy season tickets, they rarely pay. When you buy single tickets, you save money every day you stay at home. So make sure you have a place at home where you can work!

If you don't have this flexibility, and need to be in every day at early hours, then perhaps you should consider moving closer? The money you save on the rent outside of London is quickly lost by the high transport costs.

Consider using the Oxford Tube (a highly frequent 24 hr coach service - www.oxfordtube.com). Fares are, I gather, usually cheaper than on the train, you can get a student discount, and you can bulk buy tickets in advance to lower costs even more. It also has WiFi, so you could work on the go.

I'll look into it but I do not have my student id as yet which I gather you need to show the bus driver.

I have not had my programme as yet or met with my supervisor , but from the looks at time for some of the lectures I'm hoping to take they all seem to start around 4pm. I'm wondering whether it might be best to get the train rather than the Oxford tube. Does anyone have any suggestions as to which might be the most cost effective?

You'll be wanting a young person's railcard if you take the train, and that can also be used for the the Oxford tube as ID.

For train times/fares, use:
www.nationalrail.co.uk
www.thetrainline.com
http://www.seat61.com/UKtravel.htm

Hi,
I did the Oxford to London journey last year, but only for 2-3 days a week usually in term time.
Some thoughts:
1. If you're going in every day get the train.
2. If you're traveling in at rush hour - so between 7 and 10 in the morning, 4 and 7.30 in the evening - there will be occasions (fairly regularly) when the Oxford Tube journey takes four hours.
3. The toilets are disgusting and frequently don't work, a worthwhile consideration when you're stuck on there for four hours.
4. If you're planning on using the wireless internet then it probably won't work 50% of the time. The rest of the time there are very frustrating 'black holes'. I complained about this but got nowhere, despite having a season ticket.....
5. The train is quick and relatively easy, though on occasion (suicide on the line) the journey will be very long and crowded.
6. Cheap tickets are available but expect to book three weeks in advance for the best deals.
7. This all depends where in Oxford you're living, if you're in Headington it might make more sense to get the tube, if not it's worth considering that the journey from Headington to the coach station at rush hour can take up to an hour.
Hope this helps

Hi Thanks for all the helpful suggestions, I'll see how it pans out!

Just to say, Young Persons railcard DOES work on peak trains as long as the cost is above a certain amount

http://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/what-is-a-16-25-railcard/minimum-fares

I printed this out cos the staff at the train stations aren't properly trained in their own rules and ALWAYS refuse me until I show them this, I have also had to step in when trying to charge other people ridiculous amounts of money when their railcard is in fact valid.

have you tried the 'access to learning fund'? I managed to get some money from my university on my 1st year of the PhD (even though I was funded). I explained my circumstances and they agreed to give some extra for expenses).

I'll speak to the Finance dept, I'm pretty certain that they deliberately don't tell students about additional support.

Thanks
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