Chertsey is well connected by road and by broadband, and only nominally by rail. It has a station of its own in the town. Fewer than three in a hundred workers use it to get to work. A third work from home and nearly half drive. The trains are there for anyone who wants them, and most of the town has decided it doesn't.
Chertsey Rail Station is on a branch line, with Addlestone, Weybridge, Egham and Virginia Water stations around it for anyone who wants a different line. At the 2021 census, under 3% of Chertsey's working residents took the train to work and about 1% took the bus. The town has 53 bus stops, and they get more use from people going to the shops than from commuters. The station came with a level crossing beside it, so on a busy morning the railway's main contribution for many residents is the barrier coming down.
The commute is mostly a choice between the car and the house. At the 2021 census about 35% of Chertsey's workers worked from home, just under half drove, about 7% walked and about 2% cycled. About 44% of households run more than one car, while about 13% have none, and those two groups are living in the same town on very different timetables.
The Department for Transport's modelled journey-time statistics, which date from 2019, put the nearest town centre about 9 minutes away by car, 12 by bike, 15 by public transport and 20 on foot for the typical Chertsey home. The car wins every comparison, though the walk is short enough that it barely matters for the centre.
The same Department for Transport modelling puts a GP about 9 minutes away by car, 16 by public transport and 19 on foot. A hospital is about 11 minutes by car and 25 by public transport, and the nearest is St Peter's Hospital on the road towards Woking. A food store is about 11 minutes' walk or 7 minutes' drive. Employment is about 6 minutes by car and 13 by public transport, and on foot the nearest employment centre is a 52-minute walk, which is a long way to go for a job. These are averages modelled across the area, and the distances will not have moved, but the public transport times come from 2019 and services have been cut back since, so they are the least trustworthy of the lot.
The buses are frequent enough to use. Each of Chertsey's stops averages about 32 scheduled departures on a weekday and roughly two an hour at peak, and every stop has some weekend service. That is a working bus network, and it is still a minority choice.
Gigabit broadband reaches about 84% of Chertsey's premises and superfast about 99%, with no premises below the minimum universal service level. Mobile coverage is about 100% from at least one operator and about 100% from all of them, so phone signal is the one thing nobody here has to plan around.
Road noise is the price of all that driving. Almost every postcode in Chertsey is near or above the 65-decibel level at which official noise mapping treats road traffic as significant, and the loudest band recorded reaches 75 decibels. Rail noise is a separate source, with about 20% of postcodes near or above 65 decibels from the railway and the loudest band at 65. Ask to view at rush hour if the house backs onto a main road, because the daytime quiet in a viewing is a different product from the evening traffic.
Chertsey has 8 public charge points with 19 connectors between them, and 2 of those are rapid. With that few rapid units, charging an electric car here is something you plan into the day.
Chertsey is middling for connections: the car and the broadband carry it, and the trains are a pleasant option the town rarely takes up.