East Grinstead has excellent broadband and ordinary transport. More than a third of workers commute from home. Almost none take the train. The car handles most of the rest. The town is set up for staying in, and it's good at that.
East Grinstead station has been the end of its line since 1967, when the route east was closed, and Dormans and Lingfield stations are close by. Even so, only about 3% of workers here commute by train. Buses are used even less, by about 1% of commuters, despite 121 bus stops in and around the town. The rail service exists, and most residents use it only occasionally.
For getting to work, the car and the spare room are the main options. About 44% of workers drive and about 37% work from home. That leaves walking at about 10% and cycling at about 1%. Car ownership follows the same pattern: only about 14% of households have no car, and about 44% have two or more. Two cars on the drive is the norm here, not a luxury.
For everyday trips, the Department for Transport's journey-time statistics are modelled for the area as a whole, not a route from any particular door. On those figures, the nearest town centre is about nine minutes away by car, about 12 by bike, about 16 by public transport and about 21 on foot. That's walkable if you don't mind the walk, and most people don't bother.
Broadband is where East Grinstead is strongest. Gigabit connections are available to about 96% of premises, and superfast broadband reaches all of them. No premises fall below the legal minimum service. So the working-from-home figure is a choice the infrastructure supports, not a compromise.
Mobile coverage is equally good. Every part of the town gets 4G or 5G from at least one operator, and about 98% gets it from all of them.
The everyday essentials split into what's close and what isn't. On the same modelled figures, a GP is about eight minutes by car, 14 by public transport or 17 on foot. A food shop is about seven minutes by car or 11 on foot. Employment centres are about eight minutes by car and 25 by public transport. The hospital is the outlier, about 36 minutes by car and 74 by public transport. The public transport times date from 2019 and bus services may have been cut since, so treat them with more caution than the car and walking times. The hospital figure is what to think about if you're buying for elderly parents.
Buses do run. Stops with timetable data average about 60 scheduled departures on a weekday, and about three an hour at peak times. About 93% of stops have some weekend service. That's a working service, not a token one, and most residents drive past it anyway.
Road noise is a feature of the whole town. Almost every postcode, about 100%, is near or above the 65-decibel level that official mapping treats as significant road noise, and the loudest band recorded reaches 75 decibels. Two main roads share a single-carriageway stretch north of the town centre, and that stretch causes much of the town's congestion. No postcode is near the equivalent threshold for rail noise. How loud a particular house sounds depends on where it sits, so listen from the bedroom rather than the doorstep.
For electric cars, there are eight public charge points in the area with 16 connectors between them, and two of those are rapid chargers. With only two rapid chargers, most electric-car owners here will need to charge at home.
East Grinstead's connectivity is above average: excellent broadband and mobile coverage, workable roads and buses, and a railway most residents barely use. It suits people who work from home and drive, and it's less convenient for anyone who has to commute by train every day.