Great Western Coffee Shop

We're off to the now annual event at wembley to see the gridiron

Last two years we've got chiltern to the stadium then he's headed back to snow hill and I've gone on to a reading hotel.......except the last two years his train has either (1) not shown up or (2) broken down at leamington.  This is a guy who used to drive ludlow to Reading 3 times a weeks because he doesn't do trains.  Even when I have hellish delays I get "you choose to use a rail network not fit for purpose, your choice".  The only operator he likes is W&S first class!

Anyway - the decision is to drive to reading then get the train into london, return back, he drives home and I stay in hotel as getting home at midnight to get the 0535 train is not appealing.
The question is - getting to wembley....... obvious is rdg to paddington then tube then marylebone tube/mainline to wembley

But neither of us like crowded space - so I'm thinking would train to slough, cab to uxbridge, then tube in be less laden than a train out of marylebone.  Bearing in mind 90% of the crowd are US expats

Any better ideas?  Cost is not a limiting factor but we don't want to hire a limo! 

I'd say stick to plan A. Chances are most of the expats will stick like glue to the Underground all the way out to Wembley Park once they're in the Tube system, whereas you actually have to make a bit of an effort to get to Marylebone in the first place thanks to the lousy Tube links. Will the Americans want to be bothered with that effort, even if they do know about the Chiltern service to begin with?

Can't offer any travel tips....Would love to be there. I was there last year for Saints v Chargers and in 2007 for Giants v Dolphins. However this year I'm pitching up at the London Palladium for a charity comedy/variety gig (http://www.thewonderbus.org/comingup.html) So I'll just say: Go Pats!!!!

Go Phillies!

OK, OK, wrong sport, but my adoptive local baseball team is having a pretty good shot at winning the World Series (there's a misnomer if ever there was one) for the second year running. Now I just need to figure out how on earth the scoring works.

BTW, I wouldn't be so sure about the American ex-pats being clueless at navigating LUL, because I'd guess plenty of them actually live and work in London!

How about the cab from Slough to Denham? It's only a stones throw further on than Uxbridge, then Chiltern from there straight to Wembley Stadium in no more than 15 minutes.

I'll add that the normal hourly service is much enhanced on this Sunday with trains around every 15 minutes. The amended timetable is here: http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/downloads/31285.8/birmingham-stratford-upon-avon-banbury-high-wycombe-london-marylebone.pdf (http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/downloads/31285.8/birmingham-stratford-upon-avon-banbury-high-wycombe-london-marylebone.pdf)

Why not just get Chiltern direct from the West Mids?

Ah - you see "I" would and if I were going back i'd insist

But he has to go back on his own and the last two such trips involved:

1. Chilterns website temporarily having the wrong revised time table on it so the one I printed out had the train times for the day before (I phoned and they admitted it had been wrong for about 30 minutes which just happened to be the 30 minutes I printed it out in) and therefore he stood for an aged at wembley waiting for the carefully circled and underlined train back north that didnt exist.............whilst I trodded in my experienced way to Reading ....

2. Last year the train he got on (this time I double checked it was the correct time table) broke down at leamington spa for about 50 minutes with a door problem and he got great pleasure looking into the window of the flat he stayed in whilst a student at warwick 25 years ago.  I got chapter and verse over what they'd done to the decor!

As I said, he hates trains.............even if I'm seriously delayed getting home or have to divert via newport and hence be picked up, I get no sympathy and often have to offer bribes to GET picked up.  He loathes the train system, everything about trains and thinks the whole network should be ripped up and replaced with roads.  HOWEVER he realises driving to Wembley is a non starter and as I stay at the Malmaison it means I can leave my overnight bad in the trunk of his car at the station and collect it on return rather than having to haul it to the game with me like I did the last two years. Its a compromise.

Seems like he had bad luck with the experiences! (esp with Chiltern)

Then again, it is always the irregular travellers who think the rail system is rubbish, as it takes only one delay. Regular rail travellers can take a few delays here and there and even a serious delay once in a blue moon, but still say - at the end of the day - it's a pretty good service.

As for ripping up rails and putting in roads, tell him to think about it! I think the potential traffic jams at Clapham Junction would be far worse than the typical Motorway delays! :o :o

He'd have an answer to that as well ---------- "serves them right for living in London.  Its full of foreigners, dirty - horrible place.  Best to build a wall to keep them in or bomb it". ------------ just a few of his thoughts about London and the SE (why do you think we moved up north).  However I share at least half of them - the wall would be nice just let me in and out twice a day!

sounds very much like he has similar views to me,hate london and trains etc............

Depend on which flavour of baseball they are in - National or American League?  Other than that its pretty simple.

Will let you know if the 0535 shows up on time tomorrow or not!  If its late three days running - I will NOT be impressed

I don't think you should totally discount driving to Wembley.. If I'm going there that is how I prefer to go from Maidenhead.. If you don't fancy that, then being as it's Sunday, parking in Central London, on the street, is free (it won't  be difficult to park within walk of Baker Street) and then it's only one (I think) long stop on the tube from there...

Maybe we're all coming at this from the wrong direction.

I've never found getting to Wembley to be the issue, more the getting away, as people tend to arrive over a much longer period of time.

Others may know what the queues after events are like at Wembley Park Tube station since it was rebuilt during the stadium redevelopment. I have always used Chiltern recently and certainly their operation seems to be pretty slick, with empties appearing from Wembley depot to go into the reversing siding ready to head into London almost straight after the preceding train has moved on to the platform, plus there are always plenty of staff on hand to keep the queues moving and load the trains quickly.

Indeed, Will.

On my last visit there for a major gig, I left my seat in the stadium, was on a train at Wembley Stadium within 15 minutes and getting in the car at Wycombe (where we'd parked) less than 30 minutes after that!

Well we always look for the train that leaves somewhere in the middle of the fourth quarter - unless the game is on a knife edge that quarter is just endless time outs......

We have had no issue and get onto the platform long before the police start treating potential passengers like cattle

I'm not sure I understand? You give up an evening to go and watch a sporting event and don't even stay until the end? I can just about understand why footie fans go early when their team's being given a good drubbing, but if you're there to see the spectacle and are a neutral, surely the final whistle and post-match celebrations are the best bit? Mind you, NFL is very stop-start as you say. Silly game if you ask me.  ;)

Anyway, although there are crowd control measures, when I left the Muse gig right in the massive throngs of everybody leaving, most were heading down towards Wembley Park and so there were no problems at all heading the other way to the Chiltern station, just some barriers to weave in and out of.

You must have gone the other night, the Muse gig I came back from Wembley Park had to be shut as some scaffolding or something had fallen on to the track so Metropolitan and Jubilee Line were part suspended. Wembley Central and Stadium both very very busy :)

well i have to say it t'was piece  of cake. helped by all the signage directing people to baker street and the tube.  my six car was empty!

And the game itself? Bit one sided....

First two quarters one sided but good - fizzled out in the third when it was running to quick for the TV schedules so there was more stoppage than play - the one sided first two did not help!