Relaxed commute? Ha!

RAIL commuters like to brag that they have cushy commutes compared with people who drive to work -- they can nap, read a book, work on laptops. But commuting by train is also stressful, a new study has found. And the longer the commute, the more stress levels increase.

Researchers studied 208 commuters taking trains from New Jersey to Manhattan. They measured the commuters’ saliva for the stress hormone cortisol at the end of the commute and once again the following weekend at the commuters’ home. They also analyzed questionnaires filled out by the commuters and their spouses and asked each participant to proofread a document at the end of the commute.

They found that, minute by minute, physiological and psychological stress rise in train commuters. At the end of the commute, which averaged 81 minutes, participants were less able to complete the simple proofreading task, used to measure the aftereffects from stress.

The research, published recently in the journal Health Psychology, suggests that there are factors about rail commuting -- perhaps the lack of control, noise, crowding and effort it takes -- that take a toll on people.

“I think you get worn out,” says study coauthor Gary Evans, a professor of human ecology at Cornell University. “People tend to say that after a while you get used to the stress,” he says. “But we used experienced commuters. I don’t think you get used to it.”