2 hours is extreme? I live 60 miles (Bedford) or so from work in London and my commute is 1.5 hours and there are thousands of commuters do the same trip and there at are plenty who commute from further out on the same line.
10 years ago I knew guys who loved in eastern Kent who would spend 5 hours a day commuting.
I'm a home worker now, but still have to go to London far too frequently. Getting from Cheshire to Euston isn't bad - leave home at 0820, 0841 train arrives Euston at 10.25. The next 30-50 minutes slogging it out to zone 2 is a pain though.
Going the other way is where it all falls apart, as the train is only really hourly due to the connection. To guarentee making it it takes an hour to get the first 6 miles to Euston (I really should dust off the bike), 90 minutes for the next 160 miles to Crewe, then the last 5 miles can take all sorts of time.
Now I think about it giving the Brompton a service would make this far more consistent, although for maybe once every 2 weeks doesn't seem worthwhile
