Hemel Hempstead is well connected for anyone with a car or a decent router, and a lot less so for anyone relying on the bus. Direct trains to London run from the edge of town. Very few residents take them to work. About a third work from home. Nearly half drive.
The town has two stations of its own, Hemel Hempstead Rail Station and Apsley Rail Station, with Kings Langley and Berkhamsted a short drive away. Only about 2% of working residents took the train to work at the 2021 census, and about 2% took the bus, from a network of 401 stops in and around the town. Hemel has a main-line station and treats it like a spare.
The 2021 census describes a town that works from home or drives. About 34% of working residents worked from home and about 48% drove, against about 7% who walked and about 1% who cycled. About 42% of households have two or more cars, and about 17% have none. The planners laid out a town in neighbourhoods built round their own shops, and the residents have mostly gone on driving between them.
The Department for Transport's modelled journey-time statistics, last published for 2019, put the nearest town centre about 11 minutes away by car, 16 by bike, 20 by public transport and 33 on foot. Half an hour's walk to the centre is a long one, and for most of the post-war estates that is the figure that counts. The same modelling gives a GP about 8 minutes by car, 12 by public transport and 13 on foot, a hospital about 12 minutes by car and 24 by public transport, and a food shop about 9 minutes' walk or 7 minutes' drive. The nearest employment is about 18 minutes by car and 11 by public transport. These are averages across the area, and while the car and walking times hold up as long as the roads don't move, the bus times are from 2019 and some services have been cut since. Hemel was planned with its own factories so it wouldn't become a dormitory town, and getting to the nearest job is the one journey where the modelled bus beats the car.
The bus figures are current. Across the 358 stops with timetable records, the average is about 29 scheduled departures each weekday and fewer than two an hour at the peak, and about 86% of stops have some weekend service. A bus that comes along every half hour at rush hour is something people plan around, and the 2% bus commute reflects that. The timetable for the nearest stop is worth checking against the hours the buyer actually works.
Broadband is excellent. Gigabit-capable connections reach about 90% of premises, superfast broadband about 98%, and no premises fall below the legal minimum service. Mobile coverage is just as complete, with 4G or 5G from at least one network everywhere and from every network across about 100% of the area. Getting into the town centre without a car is slower than getting online.
Practically every postcode, rounding to 100%, has road noise near or above 65 decibels, the level at which official noise mapping treats road traffic as significant, and the loudest band reaches 75 decibels. Rail noise is mapped separately and reaches near or above 65 decibels at about 22% of postcodes, also peaking at 75. Neither figure says how loud any particular house will be indoors.
There are 18 public charge points in the area, with 55 connectors between them, and eight of those connectors are rapid. Eight rapid connectors means charging is something a driver plans ahead for. Topping up while doing something else is mostly not an option.
Hemel is better connected than most commuter towns, as long as the car or the home office does the work. The trains are there for the few who want them, and the buses run often enough to plan around but rarely often enough to rely on.