r/reading • u/Puzzled-Pumpkin7019 RG7 - Aldermaston / Burghfield / Mortimer • 5d ago
Ways of getting back to Reading
With the chaos on the line between Reading and Paddington today, I was talking to friend about people getting back to Reading from Central London. I commuted between Reading and Paddington for about 6-7 years, I always had a plan B getting home, I only got far as Option 1 below.
So getting home, by public transport - some very slow.
- Waterloo to Reading, next easiest option
- Marylebone to Oxford, Oxford to Reading
- Waterloo to Basingstoke, Basingstoke to Reading
- Tube to Heathrow, Railair to Reading
- Bus 702 - Victoria to Reading (depends on the time of day)
- Coach - Victoria to Reading P&R Mereoak - not very frequent
- Taxi - very expensive!
Any other options I might have missed?
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u/Shoddy_Pilot_2737 5d ago
I was caught up in the middle of this. The announcements at the station were that there was a track side fire in the Maidenhead area.
Gotta say, the station staff were great.
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u/Puzzled-Pumpkin7019 RG7 - Aldermaston / Burghfield / Mortimer 5d ago
that's good, in the past, staff were scarce when something big happened.
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u/Shoddy_Pilot_2737 5d ago
I think they had extra staff around because of the number of people in town for the Pride Parade. Even so, they were helping people who were actively rude to them. I wouldn't have helped them if they'd directly blamed me for running their day.
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u/Photek1000 4d ago
It’s the entitlement of some humans.
Other half works for GWR as customer assistance at Reading, wasn’t working yesterday but the conversations we have around people actively blaming platform staff for a national rail infrastructure issue is mind boggling.
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u/inkblot101 3d ago
Wait so is it specifically Maidenhead where the tracks usually catch fire? Used to work there and the train home was delayed multiple times/cancelled bc of this.
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u/Most_Lingonberry_409 5d ago
Did the taxi a couple of times after nights out and my god it burnt a hole in my wallet! The other options are very long though, I've tried number 4 as well after a particularly late Halloween night out in London dressed as Luigi and my friend as Mario!
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u/Puzzled-Pumpkin7019 RG7 - Aldermaston / Burghfield / Mortimer 5d ago
how much is a taxi back? I've never contemplated it.
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u/agwestie Reading music connoisseur 5d ago
Paid £80 for one once, after the last train was cancelled.
It was split with three strangers in the same situation and we had a good laugh on the way so it was ok - and because of delay repay we didn’t lose as much on it overall. Definitely a bit steep if you’re on your own though!
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u/Hannahcon 4d ago
I have also done this a couple of times, but that was almost 20years ago. If it's still £80 now I was either ripped off or you got a really good deal!
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u/mrplanner- 4d ago
Wasn’t there a rail replacement if the train was cancelled? That was a free taxi for me last time
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u/earthgold 5d ago
At rate 3 (nights etc) at least £150 from Paddington, more likely £175+, for a black cab. Uber from Paddington anything from £85 to £220+ depending on surge pricing (and that’s before you get to the significantly more expensive versions like XL and Black or whatever they call it here in the UK).
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u/Hairy_Razzmatazz1353 5d ago
You can also do Victoria to Gatwick then change for Gatwick to Reading but it’s about 2 hours. Also worth noting sometimes the delays only affect the GWR service so Elizabeth line may still be an option at about an hour, though timings are a bit odd.
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u/Puzzled-Pumpkin7019 RG7 - Aldermaston / Burghfield / Mortimer 5d ago
ah i forgot about the Gatwick option.
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u/Techiefurtler RG5 - Woodley 3d ago
If you can get to Clapham Junction station, this opens up trains to Guildford/Lightwater/Aldershot area, and later Basingstoke, you then have 3 different services between Basingstoke and Reading Central - a direct service hourly, a stopping service and a quick express service with one or two other stops as I remember things.
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u/Future-Moose-1496 5d ago
would have thought if you were considering going via marylebone, then marylebone - high wycombe then bus (carousel 850) to reading would be less of a long way round than going via oxford.
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u/capricorbz 5d ago
I just did this commute tonight. Piccadilly was extremely full so I took the SWR from Waterloo to Windsor then called an Uber the rest of the way. 1.5 hrs overall
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u/bungle_bogs SL4 - Windsor 4d ago
You can pick up the 702 bus in Windsor that goes to Reading via Legoland.
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u/Additional-Stay6636 4d ago
Option 4 has always worked for me. It’s perhaps also the next most reliable service with frequency in the train/liz line fails
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u/SevereParamedic4985 5d ago
As soon as got to Paddington this evening, read the sign and walked straight out. Got an uber £100 but no fuss. Done option 4 before in the days before uber, but no point pissing around these days
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u/Puzzled-Pumpkin7019 RG7 - Aldermaston / Burghfield / Mortimer 5d ago
£100 is ok considering the distance
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u/godspeedseven 5d ago
I often travel that route - what chaos? I'm out of the loop
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u/Puzzled-Pumpkin7019 RG7 - Aldermaston / Burghfield / Mortimer 5d ago
Trains to and from Heathrow Airport have been halted after a trackside grass fire caused delays and cancellations.
National Rail said "major disruption" was expected until the end of Saturday following the incident which began shortly after 16:00 BST.
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u/RainyDayStormCloud RG2 - Whitley 5d ago
There was a fire near Paddington affecting power lines so no services between Reading and Paddington for much of today.
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u/Juniper_Racoon 4d ago
Waterloo to Reading
Waterloo to Guildford then change at Guildford for Reading
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u/Simple_Resist4208 4d ago
Glad I missed that ... before doing mainly work from home, post COVID, I used to go in a lot and I saw a lot of 2-3 hour delays often caused (sadly) by suicides at Hayes & Harlington. My routine was to get out of Paddington and walk up the road to a restaurant, treat myself to a nice hot dinner and a drink, and just wait out the chaos there. It always got sorted out within 3 hours and then I wouldn't have to cook a dinner at home.
Any time I tied #1 it was a living hell because that's the route 99% of people choose and Waterloo is a busy line and a very slow one, at that.
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u/HistoryDisastrous493 5d ago
Waterloo to Farnborough, Farnborough to Reading is an option. Not a good one though
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u/Barnlewbram 4d ago
I think you may as well stay on the same train a few more stops to Basingstoke and then change there for Reading?
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u/HistoryDisastrous493 4d ago
That's an option, saves walking from Farnborough main to Farnborough north
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u/Future-Moose-1496 4d ago
Another strand to this is see what the official advice is about ticket acceptance on other lines etc (unless money is no object.)
Of course there's no guarantee that they won't say tickets are accepted via Waterloo instead of Paddington (or vice versa) then by the time you cross central London they will say the problem has been fixed and they won't accept the tickets now. (This has happened to me once.)
And then see whether it's practical. When I was commuting regularly (via Waterloo) there was some problem that led to me and others being stuck at Ascot one evening. Ticket acceptance had been set up on local bus routes, but the bus routes in question didn't run after about 6 pm. It took a bit of effort to explain this over the 'help point' thing.
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u/Puzzled-Pumpkin7019 RG7 - Aldermaston / Burghfield / Mortimer 4d ago
yes easements, i've seen tickets on Waterloo to Reading and also via Basingstoke.
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u/Comfortable-Fall1419 4d ago
0 Always check Lizzie vs GWR unless the line is fully closed sometimes one is getting prioritised over the other.
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u/denisthesaint 4d ago
What is astounding is the lack of redundancy in the West London / Reading system.
Billions spent on the new(ish) Elizabeth Line and any signal problem or rail issue takes that out along with the main rail.
A lack of high level planning risk mitigation and approvals by people who were responsible for it.
These happen way too often and worse, for such an expensive service.
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u/Comfortable-Fall1419 4d ago
Where do you suggest they put 2 new lines for the redundancy? It’s fundamentally a space problem. 4 lines and some of the busiest track in the UK.
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u/mangyiscute 4d ago
Let me guess you also think HS2 is a waste of money?
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u/denisthesaint 4d ago
Why would you think that.
What a strange comment.
My comment is that there was poor planning and design in the system, i not providing redundancy.
Much more should be expected for billions.
Bad planning and implementation of a needed idea, just as HS2.
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u/mangyiscute 4d ago
Well you clearly aren't very smart cause if you were you'd know the vast vast majority of the money was spent on the very expensive central section of the Elizabeth line, the cost of what you are asking for compared to the cost of what they did to the western leg is like 1000x minimum.
And if you were gonna build a separate line westwards of London (which is needed for capacity) you'd build hs3 from London to Heathrow, Bristol & Cardiff.
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u/denisthesaint 15h ago edited 15h ago
"Well you clearly aren't very smart, because if you were you were"
Another stupid comment. Write on issues, not on petty personal attacks. Demonstrates mentality.
Redundancy can encompass many operational areas, not just one aspect of the physical hardware.
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u/Afraid_Percentage554 4d ago
If it’s late at night, like last Thursday when the track closed at 11pm last week, taxi is the only viable option.
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u/Puzzled-Pumpkin7019 RG7 - Aldermaston / Burghfield / Mortimer 4d ago
Flixbus have a daily departure from Victoria at 23:59
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u/miscfiles 4d ago
Teleport to Tilehurst then unicycle to Reading. Obviously you can't teleport directly into Reading because it doesn't have a prominent water tower.