Commuting from Peterborough would be absolutely insane. You can't convince me you can't find cheaper housing between London and Peterborough. That radius has got to be the majority of the UK's housing stock?
Peterborough is a commute of around an hour, was a designated New Town for precisely that reason and tops most people's list of least expensive London commuter towns to actually live in.
Sure, you can pay a mere £4k per annum for your rail ticket coming in from somewhere like Stevenage, but then you have to find a mortgage lender that will let you borrow another £100k (and won't have a more exciting locality or fancier house to show for it)
Yes, we're talking about Peterborough, the city whose main attraction is fast trains to Kings Cross in 47 minutes and slower ones around 1hr 10 combined with relatively affordable housing for southeast England. I take it you're not familiar with the place or the line (tbf you haven't missed much...)
It's about the same latitude as Birmingham but due north of London so the distance is a lot less. The property in the fens around is affordable and often comes with land; it is absolutely a commuter station.
It's something people might do for a short period, or while looking for a better option.
A friend commuted from Coventry to London for a year. She moved there with her husband, but had one more year to go on her PhD -- using the labs at the university was essential, but there was also plenty of work that could be done on the train.
I’ve encountered people who commute daily from Worcester - 2hrs from Paddington. (One guy in particular used to get in at the end seat of the quiet carriage and snore quietly all the way into London.)
