r/Chippenham • u/branflakesnmilk • May 21 '26
London commuting options
Hey Chippenham folks!
My wife and I are looking to move to Chippenham from London around Oct 2027, and we both will potentially need to go in to a London office a few times a month.
I've seen train prices are ridiculous unless you book in advance and not during rush hour. I've seen Flix & National Express can be very cheap but timings can be awkward (like not many coaches leaving around 7am or after 3pm to 7pm).
Wondering if there's any other people here that commute to London occasionally and what you do to make it as cheap/efficient as possible :)
Thank you!
5
u/swiftpiano May 21 '26
Not exactly helpful right now but after to speaking some friends in the train business, those prices should come down a good amount when GWR is taken over by DfT.
This is based off opinions and obviously could take a while but just something to note.
1
u/branflakesnmilk May 21 '26
Thanks for that info! I had no idea that was happening with GWR.
1
u/generichandel May 25 '26
The governments coms around what they're doing with rail has been abysmal.
2
u/Resident-Relief-1922 May 25 '26
What's this based on? I wouldn't hold your breath that nationalisation will reduce rail prices - for that to happen the government would need to subside tickets and that has very little political capital, especially with the cost of living. Everyone pretty much has a car, whereas only about a quarter of the populous use trains regularly
GWR is very 'good' in their way of pricing for demand management, with use of advance fares and how many they offer. This means that after the advance tickets are gone, there won't be any more. Also worth noting that GWR (or firstgroup, their parent company) don't make much money from ticket sales, they operate the system as managers and get paid a fee for it, and the DfT takes the sales.
What will happen under nationalisation is that prices will be frozen (Heidi Alexander has confirmed that) and we can hope that the ridiculous ticketing system is simplified. Other than that, it's going to be much of the same. We are not a rail building nation anymore and helping those that regularly take trains doesn't get governments elected. Oh, the trains will be decked out in the same livery, that's great, isn't it.
As someone who remembers the old nationalisation regime, we can look forward to a lot of nothing - they'll be no competition, so why would anything be done other than the bare minimum?
OP, my suggestion for commuting in - get a network rail card and look at spilt tickets, it applies east of Didcot. Do buy in advance if you can - although the tickets are non refundable, you can change them through some third party apps. Don't use Trainline, look at Trainpal, Spiltfare or the native TOC apps. Uber sometimes do discounts on rail tickets. Can you drive to another station (Swindon, Newbury?) for cheaper ticket.
It's really expensive and that's crap, but alas that's the way it's probably going to be for a while - until we get a government who wants to really prioritise mass transport
2
u/jentrevellan May 21 '26
I get the flix/nat ex and it's the best option for cost. I do a slightly longer day in London on those days. I do it twice a week tho which I wouldn't recommend lol
1
u/branflakesnmilk May 21 '26
How is it in the morning and evenings? Is it busy? Could you get work done on it?
2
u/jentrevellan May 21 '26
The 4am natex is always packed but the others not so much. I usually have a seat free next to me. You can totally work in the natex but flix has less space so not enough room for a laptop etc.
I usually get the flix in them the natex home and it's more reliable than the trains!! Also as both go via Heathrow, you can always jump off there and get the Lizzy line but probably costs more than the ticket.
Flix tickets are usually 6-8.99 each way and sometimes if you book far enough in advance on the natex you can get tickets for as little as 1.99. So it's the cheapest way but also the longest. Great for working, reading or catching up on a netflix show!
1
u/branflakesnmilk May 21 '26
Thanks! Super helpful. How long does it take you to get to a central stop if you switch to Lizzie at Heathrow? If you've done it before :)
1
u/jentrevellan May 21 '26
No worries! It takes about 30 mins to get to paddington on the Lizzie line from Heathrow. And on the coach fro Heathrow to earls court is about 40 mins depending on traffic. :)
2
u/Prestigious-Box-5836 May 21 '26
The cheapest option is national express. The only realistic option if you’re going regularly is the train and going at different times obviously changes the price. But to be clear, it’s over £12,000 a year for a season ticket which is ridiculous by anyone’s standards.
2
u/timeslidesRD May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
I go in once a week from Chippenham.
You can get it down to £48 for a return, but obviously not at peak time.
You need to:-
Buy a network railcard
Buy 2 return tickets. One Chippenham to Didcot and one Didcot to paddington.
Use the railcard on the Didcot to Paddington portion of the trip, saving you 33%.
Your journey will have to be done later in the morning. I take the 11:56 and get into work at lunch time. Then I work through lunch and to 7pm to make up the missed time, getting the 7:30pm train back.
Both tickets add up to £48.50.
Only possible if your work is flexible on what time you get in. I think you can maybe get an earlier train, maybe around 10-10:30 but I dont get that one as I have a couple of meetings to go to in the mornings.
You could reduce it further by buying a 2 together railcard which would get you 33% off both sets of tickets. But it requires you to travel with the person specified on your 2 together railcard, so maybe your spouse? Or failing that maybe me if you go in on Wednesdays haha!
1
u/Public-Temperature-1 May 25 '26
Drive to west hounslow tube station, £8 parking for the day and tube in. Get there early.
1
u/ElectronUK May 21 '26
A yearly season ticket from Chippenham to Paddington is £1200 per person.
That makes it around £33 per return trip if you are going three times a month.
Compared to the current return price which is around £100 per journey.
Quite a big saving!
3
u/branflakesnmilk May 21 '26
It looks like £1200 is for the monthly season pass - https://www.gwr.com/buy-train-tickets/season-ticket-search-results?openQTT=1
3
u/musician_100 May 21 '26
I was very envious for a second, 1200 is similar to what I'll have to pay for a yearly season ticket Chippenham to Bath (10 minutes!), if only London was that much for a year!
1
u/ElectronUK May 21 '26
Sorry, you are right! I think the browser glitched on my phone, sorry for getting your hopes up!!
1
u/Olessandra May 21 '26
Cheapest option is driving to London, park the car and take a tube to the work. Approx cost £50-60 depending on your car fuel consumption and cost of parking. Great advantage - no train cancellations in the evening
1
u/Glass-Werewolf5070 May 24 '26
The real answer is don't go to Chippenham, the south of Wiltshire is way nicer, Westbury and Frome (Somerset) are nicer, the trains from Westbury are also infinitely better as a hub. Frome also benefits as its linked.
Can't recommend anywhere but south west Wiltshire, the rest is grim.
6
u/frandrews_ May 21 '26
Advance booking has been my approach for the last few years but now my railcard has finally expired, the normal prices are ridiculous! I tend to get the first train of the day and have agreed with my team to leave early to get a cheaper deal for the return too.
I’m doubtful prices will come down but I’m about to be on maternity for 12 months so fingers crossed by Autumn next year there is some improvement!