Cheaper ways into London from Reading

[whole diary]

[THEALB10N]

Hi all,

I'm trying to find a way of reducing my monthly commuting cost from Reading to Victoria station. With the 5% discount I'm currently paying GBP467 for a Reading-London Z1-6 ticket. I only need to be in London 3-4 days a week and have a 16-25 railcard so am exploring alternatives whilst trying to balance a monetary saving with an increased commute length.

I can think of the following alternatives:
1) A day return on the Reading-Waterloo services, changing at Clapham Junction (GBP21ish a day). Train journey looks to be 1h40m ish.
2) The Railair bus to Heathrow T5 and then the tube up from there (GBP12.50 + GBP7ish for the tube). It'll be at least 1h50m I would have thought.
3) Driving to a tube/rail station somewhere in South-West London and getting a train in (any ideas for stations/parking would be appreciated on this one!).

I'm struggling financially at the moment and reducing my outlay on trains per month would help massively; if that means a longer trip each day then so be it for the time being :-(.

I'm presuming there aren't any advance fares that could help from Reading.

If anyone has any suggestions/knows people who travel into London from the West via more unorthodox routes I'd be very grateful if you wouldn't mind sharing!

Many thanks :-)

[laird]

I guess in theory you could mix and match between Reading to Victoria via Clapham Junction saving on the Tube fares adding in the occasional Calcot to Victoria National Express coach journey (about 90 minutes), I say occassional as the typical fare is higher than the rail fare but from time to time it will presumably be on offer.
Can your employer offer you a season ticket loan to bring the per journey cost down further?

[Adelante_CCT]

NEX^▸ (National Express - parent company of Wessex Trains) don't run from Calcot anymore, its now Mereoak

[grahame]

If anyone has any suggestions/knows people who travel into London from the West via more unorthodox routes I'd be very grateful if you wouldn't mind sharing!

Reading to Zones 1-6 season is about 20% higher in cost than Reading to London Stations ... so there's a saving if you go on the slow train from Reading via all the shack Staines and change at Clapham Junction.

A Basingstoke to London Stations season is the same cost (as I understand it) as a Reading to London Stations ... and having a season you could double back; not sure that would gain you much (if anything) on the train from Reading via Staines and you have to make sure there's a Clapham Junction stop and / or you end up with even more connections to make.

London bus 36 on an Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) may be cheaper than the tube from Paddington and quicker than the train into Victoria

I suspect that your best bet might be your 16-25 railcard buying tickets each day you travel - Reading to London Stations and you can decide before you head home whether you want speed (via PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) and TfL^» (Transport for London - about)) or cheapness (via Clapham).  And try and make your 3 or 4 days ones that you can start and finish outside the peak, or Saturdays and Sundays.

[TaplowGreen]

Drive to Uxbridge, then jump on the Tube.

[IndustryInsider]

Drive to Uxbridge, then jump on the Tube.

Sounds simple, but I reckon that would be two hours each way as well when you factor in travelling time from Uxbridge to Victoria, the drive from Reading, and the fact that Uxbridge tube station has no car park and from experience traffic clogs up around the area quite badly.  Might well be worth giving it a go a couple of times to see how it works in reality but it could be an option.

[Adelante_CCT]

Uxbridge tube station has no car park

Hillingdon does though, right off the A40, used that method many times

[IndustryInsider]

Yes, that’d probably be better traffic wise as well.  M4 from Reading then A408.

[grahame]

Another thread on the forum reminded me about the Greenline bus ...

http://uktransport.wikia.com/wiki/Green_Line_routes_700,_701_and_702

Not sure what's happening when Reading buses start running that ... but something to keep an eye on?   

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

Depending on when your 2-3 days a week fall... 7 day seasons may help sometimes

[Adelante_CCT]

Another thread on the forum reminded me about the Greenline bus ...

http://uktransport.wikia.com/wiki/Green_Line_routes_700,_701_and_702

Not sure what's happening when Reading buses start running that ... but something to keep an eye on?  

By the time you have got a bus/train to Bracknell, then the 702 to London, via Ascot, Legoland, Windsor, Slough, Langley and onto Hammersmith and Victoria, it'd be time to commute back!

[froome]

If anyone has any suggestions/knows people who travel into London from the West via more unorthodox routes I'd be very grateful if you wouldn't mind sharing!

Reading to Zones 1-6 season is about 20% higher in cost than Reading to London Stations ...

Paddington to Victoria is about 2 to 3 miles distance. I don't know how mobile THEALBION is, but it strikes me this is the sort of distance cycling or even walking would be preferable to trying to catch a tube or bus, and in the case of cycling, certainly much quicker. I've often cycled from Paddington to the Victoria area through Hyde Park, and even on a busy day it takes no more than about 15-20 minutes.

[Tim]

I don't know what a  Buffoon Bike costs to hire but I doubt it is more than the tube. 

[Richard Fairhurst]

Or just keep an old bike at Paddington - I did that for six months while commuting to the Victoria area.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Or just keep an old bike at Paddington ...

Is that a euphemism??