Driving in London (or not!)

handyandy1

I wonder if any London based moneysavers could offer some advice. In December (18th) my missus has to take our little lad to Great Ormond St , for an 11am appointment. We live in Swindon and in order to make the appointment, if she travels by train she has to travel at peak rate which is gonna cost £110 :shocked: She has now got the idea that she could drive up the M4 to somewhere like Chiswick, park the car near a tube station and do the rest of the journey by tube and still get there by 11. She has to drop the daughter off at school in Swindon at about quarter to nine so that gives her about 2 hours to do the journey. (normally on a good day it takes about an hour to get to Heathrow) Is this feasible? Sounds a bit dodgy to me, given the traffic. Anyone know of an alternative, other than rearranging the appointment -we've waited long enough for this one! Any advice/opinions greatly appreciated

C_Ronaldo

If you park the car at a tube station make sure you check if you need to pay to park there,

jebervic

handyandy1 wrote: »

I wonder if any London based moneysavers could offer some advice. In December (18th) my missus has to take our little lad to Great Ormond St , for an 11am appointment. We live in Swindon and in order to make the appointment, if she travels by train she has to travel at peak rate which is gonna cost £110 :shocked: She has now got the idea that she could drive up the M4 to somewhere like Chiswick, park the car near a tube station and do the rest of the journey by tube and still get there by 11. She has to drop the daughter off at school in Swindon at about quarter to nine so that gives her about 2 hours to do the journey. (normally on a good day it takes about an hour to get to Heathrow) Is this feasible? Sounds a bit dodgy to me, given the traffic. Anyone know of an alternative, other than rearranging the appointment -we've waited long enough for this one! Any advice/opinions greatly appreciated

In my opinion it can't be done, just not enough time

tanith

It certainly sounds like it could all go wrong on the day... traffic wise etc... if I were you I would defo phone the hospital and ask to speak the clerk of the clinic your son has to attend and explain that its possible you will not be on time for your appointment because of the distance involved etc.. they are usually pretty flexible with times especially with children, find out what time the clinic finishes and see how much leeway there is with the time...
I used to work in the transport dept for a large London hospital and we had a policy for patients travelling long distances that as long as the clinic hadn't actually finished we would try and fit people who were late in .. Its certainly worth asking and explaining , they may even suggest a slightly later appointment to give your wife a fighting chance....

Tustastic

I agree with Tanith about asking for a slightly later appointment. I'm sure they'll be helpful about this at the hospital. Also, any chance of someone else taking your other child to school that morning?
Re stopping at a tube station, somewhere on the Central Line could be best, as from memory Holborn is the nearest tube to Great Ormond Street. Needs to be further west than Shepherd's Bush, as the congestion charge area starts round there. Most tube stations have big parking restrictions in the roads nearby, so you could be looking at a 10 minute walk to the tube.
All the best for the little one's appointment.

Alfrescodave

If you do manage to arrange a later appointment then you're back to considering a day return on the train - still not cheap but booked as far as possible in advance is still worth looking into

vikingaero

Andy,

Could you take your daughter to school and let your wife leave earlier? With hospital appointments sometimes being like hens teeth you really don't want to miss it.

handyandy1

Thanks for all your input, I will show her this thread, I think it could only be possible if there were no traffic problems, she didn't get lost and she could park sufficiently close to the tube. I bit too risky methinks! I think Taniths suggestion would be the best bet. Being in London, they must be familiar with the travel issues. I work an early shift out on the road, so I wouldn't be able to take my daughter to school unless I took the day off work:sad: Thanks again for your help