Moving to Drogheda ?

Porridge77

Hi there,

I would like a bit of advise, currently renting in Dublin at a cost of €1100 (2Bed Apartment), and with the rental prices in the capital looking at increasing for the foreseable future - Im actually considering rening in Drogheda and commuting in everyday.

Can anyone advise if this is a mad idea. I dont know anything about the town really but looking online I would get a much better quality of apartment/house for nearly less than half of what we are currently paying.

Would anyone be able to offer any advise on which area of Drogheda I should start my search for accommodation.

At the moment, I think I would just get the daily train in every morning, as it looks like at peak times it goes every ten minutes, so any good apartments close to the station would be great - Thanks in advance.

Drogmal

Porridge77 wrote: »

Hi there,

I would like a bit of advise, currently renting in Dublin at a cost of €1100 (2Bed Apartment), and with the rental prices in the capital looking at increasing for the foreseable future - Im actually considering rening in Drogheda and commuting in everyday.

Can anyone advise if this is a mad idea. I dont know anything about the town really but looking online I would get a much better quality of apartment/house for nearly less than half of what we are currently paying.

Would anyone be able to offer any advise on which area of Drogheda I should start my search for accommodation.

At the moment, I think I would just get the daily train in every morning, as it looks like at peak times it goes every ten minutes, so any good apartments close to the station would be great - Thanks in advance.

I rent a 2 bed house in Drogheda 5 minutes walk from the train station and 15 minute walk from bus. I pay €650 a month and the transport costs of the commute costs about €200.

Dublin road is a good place to start looking Wheaton Hall, Bryanstown Manor and Martello village have some nice 2 bed places and all 5-10 minute walk to the station. Scotch Hall would also be an option.

Porridge77

Hi Drogmal

Thanks for that, thats exactly what I was looking for.

I currently have a taxsaver ticket for the luas in town and the extra cost of getting a rail ticket from Drogheda would work out at around €80 per month actual cost to me monthly.

I actually like the idea of moving out of the city, the commute may be longer in the mornings, but looking at the potential savings, it looks worth it - Thanks.

Porridge77

Sorry, Just me again.

On another issue, I see there is a bus that goes direct every morning - Matthews Coach hire. Would anyone know of where the pick up in Drogheda is.

As if the picked up in the town centre, it might be an idea to be based there?

Apologies for all the questions.

Sumpecto

Matthews has around three or four stops in Drogheda I think. I'm not entirely sure of the names of the different stops but here's a link to their time-table which should be of help:
http://commuter.matthews.ie/

MugMugs

You'd be better located on the north side of the town for the bus. Not wanting to trample your idea but fuel costs are only going one way. 80 x 4 = 320 +650 rent just under 1k with the extra commuting time are you just going to save 100 euro? Or is my maths just brutal?

gipi

You could base yourself in the Grange Rath area (about 1.5 miles from Drogheda centre), one of the Matthews bus services (the Bettystown service) starts from there.

Otherwise you should look in the town centre, on the Northside (North Road / Georges St) or Southside (Donore Road) areas for easy access to the bus stops.

The Drogheda Matthews stops for buses to and from Dublin aren't opposite each other (unlike Dublin city buses, for example). Estates which are close to the railway station are about 25 min walk from your morning stop (towards Dublin), and over 30 min walk from your evening stop (from Dublin).

PS - your taxsaver rail ticket isn't interchangeable with a Matthews bus ticket (they run a taxsaver scheme too) - you'll have to choose one or the other.

gipi

MugMugs wrote: »

You'd be better located on the north side of the town for the bus. Not wanting to trample your idea but fuel costs are only going one way. 80 x 4 = 320 +650 rent just under 1k with the extra commuting time are you just going to save 100 euro? Or is my maths just brutal?

Think the OP said it was an extra 80 euro per month, not per week - savings would be 1000 - 730 = 270 per month.

MugMugs

gipi wrote: »

Think the OP said it was an extra 80 euro per month, not per week - savings would be 1000 - 730 = 270 per month.

Quite right! I thought weekly

positron

Porridge77 wrote: »

Can anyone advise if this is a mad idea.

It is a bit, imho.

Commuting is expensive - even with tax saver ticket, when you factor in the amount of time you would spend getting to bus/train station, waiting around, start and finish your work to match train/bus time table, and the amount of time spend standing/sitting on the bus/train around 2 to 3 hours a day. But some people like the own time they get with the commute - so only you can decide how expensive it is to you individually. Why not check out the commute for a week or two, may be?

On the plus side Drogheda has all the benefits of being a small town compared to over-crowded parts Dublin. But you could some of these benefits just outside Dublin without having to travel an hour..!

At the moment, I think I would just get the daily train in every morning, as it looks like at peak times it goes every ten minutes, so any good apartments close to the station would be great - Thanks in advance.

Like others said you should be able to find a place between Brianstown Manor, Wheaton Hall - both 5-10 mins stroll from the train station.

Porridge77

Thanks for everyone that got back to me. Have decided to focus my search in the mention estates Wheaton Hall, Bryanstown Manor and Martello village close to the railway line.

By looking at the rail times, from when I finish work I could be back in Drogheda in the evenings after 7 O'clock. At the moment I stroll down to the luas after work thats is before I check my emails/facebook etc...I think If I just legged it out the door without all my messing about - I could be back to Drogheda in much the same time as I currently get home.

Now, just to fine a suitable place ehhh which is obviously easier said than done !!!

Fifabelle

I'm also looking to move to Drogheda in next few weeks. I was wondering what is the traffic like in Drogheda in the mornings? Does it start to get very busy early? I'll be commuting to Dublin and will need to drop my bf to the bus station prior to leaving.

MugMugs

Fifabelle wrote: »

I'm also looking to move to Drogheda in next few weeks. I was wondering what is the traffic like in Drogheda in the mornings? Does it start to get very busy early? I'll be commuting to Dublin and will need to drop my bf to the bus station prior to leaving.

What time(s) ?

Fifabelle

About 7am? Although I'm also wondering if we get somewhere close enough to the bus station then he can walk himself which means I could leave a bit later. I need to be in work (Dublin 3) for 9am

positron

Welcome to Drogheda Porridge77 & Fifabelle!

Fifabelle, traffic in Drogheda shouldn't be too bad that early in the morning, however you may find yourself in slow moving traffic from Airport all the way to Dublin 3.

MugMugs

Fifabelle wrote: »

About 7am? Although I'm also wondering if we get somewhere close enough to the bus station then he can walk himself which means I could leave a bit later. I need to be in work (Dublin 3) for 9am

You'd drive into Dublin 3? :eek:

7am, there's little to nothing pottering around Drogheda in that area.
As said though, The Swords Element of the M1 bottlenecks up to the Tunnel.

I'd take the Donore Road (up by the station) onto Kilmoon X and take the N2 through Finglas for an easier life if driving was essential.

Fifabelle

Thanks for the responses. I might look into getting the train myself instead of driving. Nothing worse than sitting in slow moving traffic.

gipi

Fifabelle wrote: »

About 7am? Although I'm also wondering if we get somewhere close enough to the bus station then he can walk himself which means I could leave a bit later. I need to be in work (Dublin 3) for 9am

Up to recently, I commuted to Dublin by car from Drogheda - I left home about 7.30am, and was in Dublin city centre (Dublin 1 area) about 8.50-9am. I commuted from the southside of Drogheda and went by Julianstown onto the M1. The slowest part of the commute (apart from the M1 roadworks) is once you reach the port tunnel/Santry area. Finding the best route at that stage of the journey can be a bit hit and miss (what's clear today is chokka tomorrow).

If you leave at 7am, you'll easily make Dublin 3 for 9am unless something major goes wrong with traffic.

Depending on where you're going, you might consider the Matthews bus service - as well as a service to Parnell St, they run a service from Drogheda to the IFSC area.

Once the roadworks on the M1 are done (a month to 6 weeks from now supposedly) even at rush hour it should be a clear run to the end of the motorway.

Porridge77

Hey there, Anyone Live in Roschoill and commute into Dublin everyday, if the did how did you find the commute & what would be the best method of public transport if I moved to the Estate: Train/Bus Eireann or Matthews..?

Many thanks

R.O.R

Porridge77 wrote: »

Hey there, Anyone Live in Roschoill and commute into Dublin everyday, if the did how did you find the commute & what would be the best method of public transport if I moved to the Estate: Train/Bus Eireann or Matthews..?

Many thanks

We live in Roschoill and my Wife used to commute in to the Dublin Castle area. It's a good 25-30 minute walk to the train station (did it myself once - hate walking). It's probably a similar walk to Southgate to get on the Matthews coach as well.

What she did was drive to Julianstown and get on the Matthews Coach there. Park in the (closed) Pub Car park and it's about an hour on the coach from there. Drop off is Parnell street and she'd use the Dublin bikes to get across to her office.

Reverse journey on the way back, but the coach drops just after the traffic lights in Julianstown so a 5 minute walk or so back to the car. Was taking roughly an hour 15 each way doing it this way. Quite a bit quicker (and therefore a longer lie in) than getting the coach at Southgate as that goes all around Bettystown before picking up in Julianstown.

positron

R.O.R wrote: »

It's a good 25-30 minute walk to the train station (did it myself once - hate walking).

I live near the back of Wheaton Hall really close to Roschoill, and can walk to the station in less than 15 minutes, or bike it in 5 mins. Biking from Roschoill to the train station shouldn't take more than 10 mins, I would have thought. Also if someone can drop you off to the bus station / McDonalds in town, you could get the 100X or the Matthews coach that goes straight on to M1 and *should* be quicker.

The quickest means of getting from anywhere in Drogheda to anywhere in Dublin is.... a motorbike!! Not everyone's cup of tea though!

Con41

I live in Roschoill - 10-15 minute walk to the train station - alternatively you can drive to the train station (parking €2 a day with Parkbytext) which is what I usually do. Parking in the station usually fine up to 8.30am

kormak

R.O.R wrote: »

We live in Roschoill and my Wife used to commute in to the Dublin Castle area. It's a good 25-30 minute walk to the train station (did it myself once - hate walking). It's probably a similar walk to Southgate to get on the Matthews coach as well.

What she did was drive to Julianstown and get on the Matthews Coach there. Park in the (closed) Pub Car park and it's about an hour on the coach from there. Drop off is Parnell street and she'd use the Dublin bikes to get across to her office.

Reverse journey on the way back, but the coach drops just after the traffic lights in Julianstown so a 5 minute walk or so back to the car. Was taking roughly an hour 15 each way doing it this way. Quite a bit quicker (and therefore a longer lie in) than getting the coach at Southgate as that goes all around Bettystown before picking up in Julianstown.

Christ! I'm glad I'm not the only one who has to journey by all methods possible when using public transport to get to work...

SnowDancer

Have to advise against moving to Drogheda and commuting every day. It usually adds at least 2 hours of travelling per day - and that's on a good day. There's always the occasional hassle of missed buses, packed trains, miserable weather etc. I did it for years and then moved to Blanchardstown, 10 minutes from where I work.

It was the best thing I ever did - and well worth the extra cash it costs. I'd think carefully about this.

Huawei Gallagher

I would also advise against moving to Drogheda to save money. I did the commute for 15 years (by car). Taking 3+ hours out of every day for travelling is no way to live your life. If you live close to your work then you should stay there. Trust me, its not worth it.

Here are some of the joys of living near work:
Going for a meal/drink/date after work with workmates.:p
Staying up to watch that movie until 1:00;)
Going shopping for things you need while the shops are open.:)
Getting up 1/2 hour before you start work.

Now some of the joys of commuting:
Never socialising with workmates:(
Cant watch the late movie/go to pub/stay up late because you need to get up for work at 5 am:(
Standing up locked is a stuffy smelly tin box for 1 1/2 hours listening to someones stupid phone conversation. :mad::mad:Then have a bad day at work.:(Then Standing up locked is a stuffy smelly tin box for a further 1 1/2 hours listening to someones stupid phone conversation.:mad::mad: Collapse on sofa. Repeat 5 times a week. When weekend comes you are too tired to do anything fun/rewarding, just want to watch t.v.

On the Drogheda train the people sit on the floor every morning. Then I think you are put into a system resembling a cattle pen in the evening to board the train. I used to drive instead. My trip could take anything from 45 mins to 3 hours. :mad::mad:And you end up spending a fortune just keeping a car on the road.:mad::mad:

My best advice is to perhaps take the train to Drogheda straight after work, spend the night there, and do your commute back to work.Then calculate how many hours free time you had that evening for fun/socialising etc.Now would be a great time, when there is a bus strike on. Then also think about when there is a train strike/ track problem/ entire rail line section about to to fall into the sea:eek: (as happened a few years ago).

Pay the extra rent, and have a life!:P Unless you have family/friends ties in Drogheda, it aint worth it.

longhalloween

Would you be better off at the end of the DART line? Like out in Malahide? Faster to Dublin and cheaper to live and commute?

I commuted to the airport for 6 months. Traffic is awful at junction 4 on the M1 every morning and it stays like that all the way to the city centre.

CRM Ireland

longhalloween wrote: »

Would you be better off at the end of the DART line? Like out in Malahide? Faster to Dublin and cheaper to live and commute?

I commuted to the airport for 6 months. Traffic is awful at junction 4 on the M1 every morning and it stays like that all the way to the city centre.

In Malahide! They are trying to save money, not triple their costs!