Speed and frequency of trains play a big part. Workers from Brighton pay among the lowest rail costs out of coastal commuters, with an annual cost of £3,640 for the 70-minute trip to London. Hastings residents must find almost £1,000 more. But while the Hastings commuters must endure a 100-minute journey, they are compensated in property terms: house prices are around a third lower than in Brighton. A semi-detached house in Folkestone might be half the central London equivalent of £450,000, but the 55-minute journey is one of the most expensive commutes in the country at £4,984 a year.