Confusion over London Underground (Paddington)

MoneySavingUser

Hi,

I am going to London in October and the event I am going to is near London Euston station.

I went to the National Rail website and booked some tickets.

On the main search page it showed the time I would leave and the time that I would arrive at my destination.

I will be going --> London paddington via overground --> Euston via underground.

However the problem I have is the time that my train arrives at Paddington is the same time that I am supposed to depart from there to go to Euston - 20:37 so no time to get from one train to the other!!!

On my ticket itself it doesn't say any times for the underground so I expect I can catch the next one but it is quite annoying that the website generates a journey like this (especially on the return leg where my tube train arrives at Paddington the same time as my return overground train departs where I can't catch the next one as I have an advance ticket only valid on that train!) - I have checked them separately and they are both definitely arriving/leaving at 20:37.

Has anyone noticed this before? I probably should have paid more attention when booking but I've never done this before and assume the search option would leave sufficient time in between to switch trains.

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Additionally how easy is it to find your way from the overground trains to the underground trains in Paddington?

Thanks

cookie365

Tube trains run every few minutes, they aren't timetabled.

There are 2 tube stations at Paddington. Go for the Hammersmith & City station at the opposite end from the main concourse, that'll take you to Euston Square.

tanith

You just catch whichever tube train that will get you to Paddington in plenty of times to catch your train. Leave plenty of time as you are not used to finding your way around the tube.

Rodders53

Well for the tube you can catch any train so leave Eustan area sooner to get back to Paddington in good time (15mins min) to find the correct platform and board your train home. They can shut the gates a few minutes before departure time!!

Paddington has three tube platforms if I recall things correctly...
1. Hammersmith & City Line to Euston Square
2. Circle Line to Euston Square
3. Bakerloo Line which involves travelling to Oxford Circus and changing onto the Victoria Line back up to Euston station.

4. You can get a bus (205) but it's fairly slow as the traffic can be horrendous on the Marylebone Road. It's only 2.1 miles but...

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/user/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en will allow you to do some pre-planning on journey times etc.,. Allow a bit more than they say as you can't miss the return train!

Things are well signed on the concourse at Paddington (or were when I was last there).

MoneySavingUser

tanith wrote: »

You just catch whichever tube train that will get you to Paddington in plenty of times to catch your train. Leave plenty of time as you are not used to finding your way around the tube.

Thank you all - this is what I will do.

Shame the 'confirmation' I got doesn't explain this at all!

martindow

You want to use the H&C or Circle line to Euston Square station using platform 16 at Paddington which you get to by using the stairs half way along the platforms your mainline train arrives in. Once on the footbridge turn right and follow the signs. Don't go to the concourse and get the Circle line train from the other station or you will have to change trains at Edgware Road.

Rodders53

martindow wrote: »

You want to use the H&C or Circle line to Euston Square station using platform 16 at Paddington which you get to by using the stairs half way along the platforms your mainline train arrives in. Once on the footbridge turn right and follow the signs. Don't go to the concourse and get the Circle line train from the other station or you will have to change trains at Edgware Road.

BTW platform 16 (which does ring a vague bell) is H&C line ONLY not Circle Line trains.

If you go to the Circle (& District Line! I forgot that!!) platform Circle trains will go direct to Euston Square .. only the District ones enforce a change at Edgware Road (as it's the end of the line for them). Any such change is fairly likely to be on to a H&C train, rather than waiting for the Circle behind it @ Paddington.

TfL do have timetables you can get frequencies and such from http://www.tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/timetables/ and this might influence the OP's choice based on time of day and day of week of travel.

surreysaver

Rodders53 wrote: »

BTW platform 16 (which does ring a vague bell) is H&C line ONLY not Circle Line trains.

Platforms 15 & 16 are H&C and Circle. Have been for the last 2 or 3 years now. If you go to the other District & Circle platforms, the trains all terminate at Edgware Road, and you will have to change there to a Circle or H&C train.

peachyprice

Rodders53 wrote: »

If you go to the Circle (& District Line! I forgot that!!) platform Circle trains will go direct to Euston Square .. only the District ones enforce a change at Edgware Road (as it's the end of the line for them). Any such change is fairly likely to be on to a H&C train, rather than waiting for the Circle behind it @ Paddington.

Nope, circle line trains on the circle/district line platforms also terminate at Edgware Road, I had to change there last Monday from a circle line to a H&C line. If you look at the tube map it's obvious.

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/standard-tube-map.pdf

However, it's a much shorter walk at Paddington to the circle/district platform than it is to the circle/H&C platform so you'll probably end up on the same train anyway, it only takes 30 seconds to change at Edgware Rd if there's a train waiting

martindow

peachyprice wrote: »

However, it's a much shorter walk at Paddington to the circle/district platform than it is to the circle/H&C platform so you'll probably end up on the same train anyway, it only takes 30 seconds to change at Edgware Rd if there's a train waiting

Not sure I agree with this. Mainline trains usually have first class at the front. If you are going in standard you are near the stairs and it is certainly no further to the H&C/ Circle platform from there.

I always go that way for speed and to avoid changing - at Edgware Road it is a toss up whether it is a cross platform change or up and down stairs depending whether it comes into platform 2 or 3.

If you use TFL's journey checker it suggests using the Bakerloo and change at Oxford Circus to the Victoria which seems unnecessarily complicated even if it saves a couple of minutes

peachyprice

martindow wrote: »

Not sure I agree with this. Mainline trains usually have first class at the front. If you are going in standard you are near the stairs and it is certainly no further to the H&C/ Circle platform from there.

I always go that way for speed and to avoid changing - at Edgware Road it is a toss up whether it is a cross platform change or up and down stairs depending whether it comes into platform 2 or 3.

If you use TFL's journey checker it suggests using the Bakerloo and change at Oxford Circus to the Victoria which seems unnecessarily complicated even if it saves a couple of minutes

I guess it depends what platform you arrive on, but from platform 1-7, it's just a short walk across the concourse, down a flight of stairs and you're on the circle/district platform

I do do the Oxford Circus/Bakerloo for outgoing journeys, I live on the central line and it is definitely quicker if you've a train to catch, but going home I prefer the H&C to Mile End.