New job in London - cheap rail commute?

AirlieBird

omelette451 wrote: »

If it's so much slower, why aren't there cheaper fares available by restricting yourself to the Waterloo line? SWT has missed a trick here...

They do.

Anytime Day Return Reading-London Terminals £33.50
via Staines £26.70

although bizarrely an Off-peak Return Any permitted is 20p cheaper then the via Staines route specific ticket

gner_ex

p00hsticks wrote: »

I'd be very surprised if it is, as any one travelling into London from Reading is likely to use the much faster line into Paddington rather than the slow one to Waterloo

Yes, but if you work in the Waterloo area (or on northern or jubilee lines) it can be a less-stressful commute given the relative isolation of Paddington, way out west.

omelette451

gner_ex wrote: »

Yes, but if you work in the Waterloo area (or on northern or jubilee lines) it can be a less-stressful commute given the relative isolation of Paddington, way out west.

Yes with relation to the Waterloo area, but not the Jubilee line one - there is a very simple no-stair connection from the Bakerloo line to the Jubilee line at Baker Street, which makes the Paddington line much quicker and easier overall. Sorry to be so pedantic, but hey, that's me

Lord_Lardington

I have used both the Paddington and Waterloo routes extensively and I still prefer the Waterloo route (longer journey) because:-

a) For some reason there are far more delays coming home from Paddington than there are from Waterloo.
b) At Paddington you feel as if you’ve walked halfway home by the time you get to platform 14.
c) Paddington is a long way west (as someone already said) especially if you prefer the bus to the tube (as I do).
d) Finally, a tiny point perhaps, Paddington is a dark depressing place compared to Waterloo.

I resign myself to the longer journey and have a nice sleep (going in) or read a book (coming home).

gner_ex

omelette451 wrote: »

Yes with relation to the Waterloo area, but not the Jubilee line one - there is a very simple no-stair connection from the Bakerloo line to the Jubilee line at Baker Street, which makes the Paddington line much quicker and easier overall. Sorry to be so pedantic, but hey, that's me

When was the last time you were stood on the bakerloo platform at Paddington at 08:15 in the morning, trying to get on a train stuffed to the rafters with the good burghers of Harrow and Queens Park? Ditto the jubilee platform at Baker Street trying to get on a train stuffed to the rafters with the good burghers of Stanmore and St. Johns Wood?

If you do this every day I apologise, but all tube lines in zone 1 are so congested that you are unlikely to physically be able to get on the first train that you see.

Try changing at Holborn (piccadilly to central or v/v). If you leave one train at 08:00, I'd be surprised if you're moving again much before 08:10.

omelette451

gner_ex wrote: »

When was the last time you were stood on the bakerloo platform at Paddington at 08:15 in the morning, trying to get on a train stuffed to the rafters with the good burghers of Harrow and Queens Park? Ditto the jubilee platform at Baker Street trying to get on a train stuffed to the rafters with the good burghers of Stanmore and St. Johns Wood?

If you do this every day I apologise, but all tube lines in zone 1 are so congested that you are unlikely to physically be able to get on the first train that you see.

Very true, but to me at least the extra ten minutes and crowds aren't quite annoying enough to make me want to travel the long way round every day. But maybe I have a higher patience threshold than other people. It's the same at Canary Wharf (tube) in the afternoon: most people resign themselves to the knowledge that they'll get the second or even third train that comes in and queue patiently (the trains are every 3 minutes or so on average, so it's never too long a wait), yet they still prefer this to the longer route on the DLR.

No I don't do it at 8.15 every day, but in the days when Eurostar went from Waterloo I found myself strangely often on the platform at Marylebone trying to go southbound with luggage during rush hour - not fun.