Well enough, as long as you drive or work from home. Four in ten drive to work. Nearly as many work from home. Only about one in twenty takes the train, though there are stations on every side. In Warlingham the commute runs on petrol and fibre.
There are plenty of stations nearby. Upper Warlingham, Whyteleafe, Whyteleafe South, Woldingham, Riddlesdown and Sanderstead are all within reach. Even so, only about 5% of working residents went to work by train at the 2021 Census, and about 2% went by bus from the 51 stops in and around the village. The stations are there if you want them, but most people plan their journeys around the car.
Working from home was the most common way to work at the Census, at about 44%, with driving at about 41%. Walking was about 4%, and fewer than one in a hundred cycled, which on the scarp of the North Downs needs no explanation. About 45% of households have two or more cars, and only about 12% have none. Village life here is built around the car, and the hill is a big part of why.
The Department for Transport's modelled journey-time statistics, which describe the area as a whole, put the nearest town centre about 13 minutes away by car, 21 by bike, 23 by public transport and 51 on foot. That walk is the important figure. Nobody in Warlingham walks into town for a pint of milk.
Everyday trips are short by car. On the same Department for Transport figures, a GP surgery is about 8 minutes by car, 13 by public transport and 16 on foot. A food shop is about 8 minutes by car and 12 on foot, and the nearest large employment area about 13 minutes by car or 21 by public transport. A hospital is about 29 minutes by car and 59 by public transport. These are modelled averages from 2019, and the distances haven't changed since, but bus services have been cut since then, so the public transport times are the least reliable of the set. Most of the village's daily life is a short drive away. Hospital is the long trip.
The buses run more often than the low bus share suggests. Each stop averages about 108 scheduled departures on a weekday and about 6 in the peak hour, and about 98% of stops have some weekend service. Those are counts of departures, and they're current, unlike the modelled times above. The service is there, and few people use it to get to work.
Gigabit broadband reaches about 71% of premises and superfast about 97%, and essentially no premises fall below the legal minimum for a decent connection. That explains how so many residents can work from home. Indoor 4G or 5G is available from at least one operator almost everywhere, and from every operator in about 100% of the area, so phone signal isn't a problem.
Road noise is the catch. Every postcode in Warlingham is near or above 65 decibels, the level at which official noise mapping counts road noise as significant, and the loudest band recorded reaches 75 decibels. Rail is a separate source, with about 26% of postcodes near or above 65 decibels from trains. Mapping can't tell you how a particular bedroom will sound, so visit at the morning rush and listen from the back garden as well as the front. Green Belt status keeps the fields, and it does nothing about the noise.
Electric car owners have two public charge points in the area, with five connectors between them, and both are rapid. Most people charging here will do it at home and use the public points as a backup.
In practice, a typical Warlingham commute is either a short drive or no commute at all, with the train an option most residents could use and few do. For anyone who has to be somewhere five days a week without a car, the bus and rail service is there but takes some planning.
Overall, Warlingham is middling on connections. It's good by car and online, and much weaker for anyone who wants to live without a car.