Pinner is well connected for a suburb, and most of its residents barely use the connections. The Metropolitan line runs through the middle of the village, and the buses come often. Almost half of working residents didn't commute at all in 2021, and only a sliver took the train. The broadband is good enough to explain why. Pinner has everything it needs for a commute, and a lot of its residents have arranged not to make one.
The Metropolitan line has served Pinner since 1885, and Hatch End Rail Station covers the north-east side, with Headstone Lane Rail Station and Harrow-on-the-Hill Rail Station nearby. Hatch End's station opened in 1842 under the name Pinner, which means Pinner's first station now sits in Hatch End. There are 237 bus stops across the area. Even so, about 2% of working residents took the train to work at the 2021 Census and about 3% took the bus.
The Census was taken in the year working from home took over, and about 48% of Pinner's working residents did so. Driving was next at about 29%. Walking took about 3% and cycling barely registered. About 17% of households have no car, while about 38% have two or more. Pinner is a suburb that owns cars and spent 2021 parked.
The Department for Transport models a trip to the nearest town centre at about 8 minutes by car, 9 by bike, 11 by public transport and 12 on foot. Those are modelled averages for the area. With a town centre within walking distance, Pinner is one of the rare suburbs where leaving the car at home doesn't lose you much time.
The same Department for Transport statistics put a GP about 8 minutes away by car, 12 by public transport and 13 on foot. A food store is about 7 minutes by car and 9 on foot. The nearest hospital is about 17 minutes by car and 31 by public transport, and employment is about 11 minutes by car and 15 by public transport. These are modelled averages. The car and walking times hold up because the distances don't change, but the public transport times date from 2019 and some services have been cut since, so they are the shakiest of the set. The hospital is the one trip where not having a car really costs you time.
The buses are a proper service. Stops average about 322 scheduled departures each on a weekday and about 19 in the peak hour. About 99% of stops have at least some weekend service. In Pinner a bus stop actually means buses, which is the difference between a stop and a service.
Broadband is strong. Gigabit-capable connections reach about 88% of premises, and superfast reaches about 99%. No property falls below the legal minimum. Every mobile network covers essentially the whole area, so work calls from the garden are not a problem.
The roads are the cost of all that access. Nearly 100% of postcodes are near or above the 65-decibel road-noise level, the point at which official noise mapping counts road noise as significant, and the loudest band recorded reaches 75 decibels. Rail noise is a separate issue. About 37% of postcodes are near or above 65 decibels from the railway, also peaking at 75. Look up the official noise map for the specific house, because a property backing onto the Metropolitan line lives a different life from one three streets away.
For electric cars, there are 10 public charge points in the area with 22 connectors between them, and 3 of those are rapid. With so few rapid chargers, charging is something you plan around, not something you fit in while doing the shopping.
Pinner is better connected than most of the suburbs around it. The tube, the buses and the broadband are all good, and the traffic noise and the hospital trip are what you trade for them.