Revealed: Worst commuter city in Britain… but it's NOT London
A new study claims to have revealed the best and worst commuter towns in Britain, and the 'worst' top spot isn't where you'd expect.
With its overcrowded tube carriages, endless queues and high costs, many Brits would bet on London winning this title by a landslide.
But surprisingly, the English capital comes in second, with Edinburgh at number one.
The research was compiled by Capital on Tap, which analyzed 30 of the most populous cities in the UK to highlight the best and worst.
They looked at several factors, including the average length of travel per week, the average cost of a monthly travel pass and even how happy residents are.
A new study claims to have revealed the best and worst commuter towns in Britain, but people are baffled by its top position (stock image)
The research was compiled by Capital on Tap, who analyzed 30 of the most populous cities in the UK to highlight the best and worst.
With both the longest commute per week (11 and a half hours) and the largest number of days spent traveling to work (75 per year), Edinburgh is firmly in first place on the list of worst commuting cities .
In second place is London, where the average weekly travel time is 7.83 hours per week or 51 days per year.
Although there is around a four hour difference per week between the Scottish and English capitals, London is considerably more expensive.
The average monthly travel pass costs around £182.28, while in Edinburgh it is less than half that amount, costing £59.93.
The West Midlands then dominate the poor list, with Wolverhampton, Coventry and Stoke-on-Trent in third, fourth and fifth places.
All three cities have an average weekly travel time of 7.30 hours or 47 days per year.
However, Coventry has the cheapest travel pass at £49.16, with Wolverhamptom costing £60 per month and Stoke-on-Trent £65 per month.
It's actually the 'resident happiness index' that Wolverhampton puts forward, with a score of 7.49, compared to Coventry (7.45) and Stoke-on-Trent (7.32).
At the other end of the scale, Belfast is the number one best commuter city in Britain, according to the research.
The Northern Irish city has a very low weekly travel time of just 0.58 hours or four days a year, coupled with relatively cheap monthly travel costs of £59.53.
In second place is Sunderland, with 5.09 hours of travel per week, 33 days per year and an average monthly travel pass price of £27.
Meanwhile, Leeds, Kingston upon Hull and Sheffield all end up on the good list.
The research comes just after another new study found that walking to work every day can reduce your risk of a heart attack – but only if it's a fairly long walk.
New research shows that workers who commute a total of at least 45 minutes on foot – or just over 20 minutes each way – have better cardiovascular health than workers who rely on cars or public transport.
Blood tests showed they had much lower levels of C-reactive protein, a harmful molecule known to be linked to an increased risk of blood clots that can cause heart attacks and strokes.
Elevated CRP levels can indicate dangerous inflammation in the arteries that supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart and brain.
Regular brisk walking is known to be good for the heart, but researchers from the University of Eastern Finland wanted to see how much time workers need to spend walking to work to reap the benefits.