Wimbledon is one of the best-connected suburbs in south London, and a lot of its residents barely use it. Mainline trains, the Underground and trams all meet at one station. There are nearly 400 bus stops. Gigabit broadband reaches most homes. Around four in ten households have no car and do not miss one.
Wimbledon Rail Station is the hub. Direct trains run into central London and out to Surrey, and both the Underground and the tram end their lines here. Wimbledon Chase, Haydons Road, Raynes Park and Earlsfield stations cover the edges. The area has 397 bus stops, yet in the 2021 Census only about 4% of working residents commuted by train and 5% by bus. Two separate networks treat Wimbledon as far enough out to turn round, and most of the locals still stayed in.
That Census was taken during lockdown, when about 55% of working residents worked from home, so the snapshot exaggerates how much the network sat idle. Of those who did travel, about 12% drove, 6% walked and 3% cycled. About 38% of households have no car, and only 14% have more than one.
On the Department for Transport's modelled journey-time statistics, the nearest town centre is about eight minutes away by car, 13 by public transport, 10 by bike and 14 on foot. A GP is about seven minutes by car and eight on foot or by public transport, and a food shop is about six minutes' walk. Somewhere to work is about eight minutes by car and nine by public transport. The figure that stands out is the hospital, about 15 minutes by car and 28 by public transport. These are modelled averages for the area. Fixed distances hold up over time, but the public transport times date from 2019 and services have been cut since, so they are the least reliable of the set.
The bus figures are current. Stops average about 302 scheduled departures each weekday, around 16 an hour at the peak, and about 99% of stops have a weekend service. A bus is never a long wait here.
Gigabit broadband reaches about 86% of premises and superfast about 99%, with no premises below the legal minimum speed. Every network covers the whole area for 4G or 5G, so the signal is never the reason a call drops.
All that traffic makes a noise. About 69% of postcodes are near or above 65 decibels of road noise, the level at which official mapping counts it as significant, and the loudest band reaches 75 decibels. Rail noise is a separate source, with about 21% of postcodes near or above 65 decibels and a top band of 75. A flat next to the tracks out of Wimbledon is well placed for a train and well placed to hear every one of them, so stand in the bedroom when a train goes by on the viewing.
There are 513 public charge points in the area with 606 connectors between them, and only 5 of the units are rapid. With so few rapid units, charging an electric car here means plugging in overnight or for a long stay, because a quick top-up while shopping is hard to find.
For a typical commute the station decides it. Anyone within walking distance of Wimbledon Rail Station has trains, Underground and trams on the doorstep, and the frequent buses link everyone else to it.
Wimbledon is very well connected, held back only by the roar of its own roads and a thin supply of rapid chargers. Very few London suburbs offer this much choice from one platform.