There is no doubt, that if you can, it is best to travel by train.
I use to work near Victoria station and using the train my journey time was 1 hour door to door, 10 minutes downhill walk to the station ( Marple) 25 minutes on the train to Piccadilly, probably 15 minutes including waiting for the Metro Tram to Victoria and about ten minutes walk including a stop for coffee.
By car it could well take me over an hour and for an 8.30am start I had to make sure that I was through the traffic lights at Dan Bank by 6.55am. If I finished work at 5pm I would wait until about 6.15pm to avoid the traffic and the stress of the rush hour.
Coming home on the train, I would go to Rose Hill station, enjoy a pint in the Railway and possibly a free hot bar snack before taking the gentle upward slope into Marple.
The only thing that annoyed me was that in the majority of cases, the trains were not clean.