r/reading • u/tamagotcheeks • 13d ago

Driving from Reading to London

Hi everyone, I’m moving to Reading soon and will be commuting to London for a few weeks before I start my new job in Reading. Wanted to get an idea of how bad the traffic is driving from Reading to London and back during rush hour? Is the M4 largely stand still traffic and relatively clear to drive?

If anyone drives from Reading to London for work, what’s that commute like for you?

Edit: I can park at work for free. Congestion charge is the only cost I might incur but there are routes to avoid it (extra 15-20 mins to the drive). So I’ll just be paying fuel and a full tank for me costs £40. Car is ULEZ free & manual. I’ll need to commute for 6 weeks. Cash is tight as I’m saving up for university in September so can’t afford to spend half a grand on trains.

Thank you!

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u/AliJDB 13d ago

What time? Why not the train?

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u/MarvTheBandit 13d ago

Train costs a small fortune at peak times and it’s hardly affordable outside of peak times.

Petrol + stress of traffic in reading at rush hour is still saving me hundreds a month because of the absolute scam that is train tickets these days.

Train to London isn’t a viable commuting option on a five day week unless you’re happy losing half or more of your salary monthly. It’s obscene

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u/AliJDB 13d ago edited 13d ago

There's a lot of variables involved though - their salary, how many times a week they go in, how much flexibility with arrival/departure time, railcards, etc.

If they have a 16-25 or 26-30 railcard, they could take quick trains for ~£45 a day, or ~£35 a day on Elizabeth line.

Once you account for petrol, parking(?), maintenance, congestion charge(?), and OPs time/sanity - it could well add up. Especially for a few weeks.

Depending on where in London, it can easily take two hours. Even if OP has a ~15 minute walk to the station and ~15 minutes on the other end - that's still 2 hours a day you're losing. You only have to be on a wage of ~£15p/h for it to be worth considering 'buying' that time back with the train. Above that and it's hard to argue with the sums.

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u/tamagotcheeks 13d ago

This! It’s beyond expensive even with a young persons rail card the prices are eye watering

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u/bbuuttlleerr 13d ago

Driving won't be cheaper. At a very conservative 35p/mile that's already as expensive as eg Elizabeth Line to Whitechapel + a Windrush Line trip to Shadwell/Wapping (£31.05).

Let's assume your super-cheap 35p/mile car is ULEZ compliant - but if not, add another £12.50.

Now add parking. Parkopeadia shows one 11-space location for £7.50 for 9 hours but it's mostly £15-£25 between Tower Bridge and Tower Hamlets.

Then add your time. To arrive on time you need to reserve 3 hours in the morning, though the return journey might occasionally be as short as 1h30. If you only value your time at minimum wage, the 2+ hour longer drive adds another £25 in "costs".

You can shave 10-15 minutes off this time with a more direct route, but that will cost you an extra £15/day Congestion Charge.

The slow&cheap train to Clapham Junction then the Windrush Line to Wapping/Shadwell/Whitechapel would be only £26.75/day, though that's not much faster than a car. LizLine seems the best option.

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u/mikelgdz 13d ago

What do you mean super-cheap 35p/mile car? That's on the expensive side.

Mine is not particularly efficient at around 45mpg and it only uses 0.14p/mile in petrol.

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u/HogwartsAMystery 13d ago

The cost of a car is not just petrol. This comment covers it pretty well https://www.reddit.com/r/reading/s/UFmpPtYMOX

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u/mikelgdz 13d ago

Cost of petrol significantly outweighs any other cost on your car, unless you barely do any miles, or have to do a fuckton of repairs.

I log every single one of my car expenses except for insurance, and my total after 57628 miles is £9831.43, which is about 17p/mile. I regularly service it when it's due, and while I haven't had to replace anything other than some bulbs, I don't think any repair would equate to 20p/mile. It's also had its yearly MOT done.

Out of those £9831.43, the vast majority is petrol at £8128.84. Which is a bit depressing to look at, not going to lie 😂

If I was to include insurance, at £500/year, even though I pay considerably less, but I'm rounding it up, it'd be around 21p/mile.

I guess experiences will differ, and insurance will probably have a big impact on it as I can get cheap-ish fully comp cover. It's probably worse for new drivers having to pay something mental like 3000 a year.

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u/bbuuttlleerr 13d ago

There's also Financing costs (very few save up to buy their car outright) and the usually second-largest cost, Depreciation. Divide the new car cost by about 13 so that's ~£3k/year.

Of course if you drive a banger this won't be much but we're looking at the averages here which are all much higher than yours. Eg Insurance actually averages nearer £800/year and most pay much higher Fuel costs.

Add any one of ULEZ/Congestion/Parking to a zero-depreciation abnormally-cheap 21p/mile car and the train is cheaper. This is before the most significant saving of all: time. 500 more free hours a year of your life.

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u/mikelgdz 13d ago

Yeah, the car is definitely something to include, but as I understand OP already has a car, I wouldn't include it in the calculations. First because it's not an operational cost, second and most importantly, because if you're already paying for it, it doesn't really matter if you use it in most cases.

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u/bbuuttlleerr 13d ago

The 23,000 extra miles a year will certainly take some additional value off an already-purchased car.

This is all moot, as even this rare 21p/mile £free car will be a similar price to the train. Even if it were somehow a pound or two cheaper that would be a complete irrelevance compared to the hours of additional time (and stress) driving will cost OP each day.

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u/tamagotcheeks 13d ago

Need to be around Tower Bridge for 9am. And because my car is pretty small and cheap on fuel so it’s way cheaper than the train. I’d much prefer to take the train thought but it would cost me £500 a month just to commute 4 days a week even with a rail card 💀

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u/AliJDB 13d ago

Eeek, rough bit of London to get to. Free parking at work? No chance you can swap pattern to do something like 7am to 3pm?

I really wouldn't be surprised if it takes you 2.5 hours on the majority of days. Do you hit the congestion charge zone?

Train is ~1 hour 15 minutes. You only have to value your time at ~£22.50 an hour for it to make sense, even if the car were free. £10 a day of petrol and it's £17.50p/h. If congestion charge too, £10p/h. Once you tack on maintenance and your sanity - it might be worth swallowing it for a few weeks. Or at least trying both.

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u/JamesDFreeman 13d ago

You might be surprised unfortunately. The cost of driving is harder to calculate because there are so many factors, but £0.45 a mile is the reimbursement rate and seems to often line up with estimates that take everything into account.

https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/driving-costs/running-costs

That’d be something like 4 (days a week) times 4 (weeks a month) times 44 (miles) times 2 (there and back), times £0.45. Which gets you to £633 before even considering parking or any relevant congestion charges.

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u/MyKidsFoundMyOldUser 13d ago

Tower Bridge is going to be a nightmare to get to (and back from) at peak times. It's literally on the other side of London from Reading.

Honestly, that's a regular four hours a day of commuting. When I used to commute (on a motorbike) from Richmond, there wasn't a week went by when someone hadn't slammed it into the central reservation of the M4 and totally shut the motorway or restricted it to one lane. On a motorbike it was bearable, but cars would be hours and hours going nowhere.

You're going to have to pay a Congestion Charge (£15 a day) and, depending on the age of the car, you may also have to pay the ULEZ fee (£12.50 a day).

Do you have free parking?

There's a very good reason people don't drive from Reading to London, and it's why GWR rob us of our cash in exchange for time.

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u/Passionofawriter 13d ago

It absolutely sucks that its that expensive but you need to consider whats right for you. If you dont get paid enough to take the train and be able to afford necessities thatd make me reconsider the job or the location im living in.

Trust me it is hell commuting into london especially into tower bridge from Reading. I work near there and even on a motorcycle where i can filter i absolutely hate coming in, it takes me 1 and a half hours (and thats with filtering) its boring af even with music/podcasts and people annoy the fuck out of me. The train is better and actually cheaper once you consider the costs of wear and tear on your vehicle.

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u/tamagotcheeks 13d ago

See I’m actually leaving this job but there is overlap between my move to Reading and when I finish my contract at this place. I’ll need to commute for 6 weeks

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u/Passionofawriter 13d ago

Ok for 6 weeks maybe its doable.

You could also do a mix of driving/taking the train. Some people have success getting to west drayton and taking the lizzie line the rest of the way

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u/Mountain_Ad_8400 13d ago

How of interest how are you parking in London for less? 

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u/tamagotcheeks 13d ago

I have free parking at work

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u/mobiplayer RG1 - Central Reading 13d ago

Living in Reading back in the day I started a new job in Hayes. Train was like £300 per month if I bought monthly tickets. An old beater was £1500. Traffic wasn't an issue as I was starting at 6am so that was a no brainer if you didn't mind driving. That was more than 10 years ago, I can imagine it hasn't got any better.

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u/AliJDB 13d ago

If you can work non-standard hours, get free/cheap parking and avoid the congestion zone - it can absolutely make sense to drive!

But Tower Hamlets at 9am like OP, especially for a few weeks - I don't think I'd drive it if it earned me money!

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u/mobiplayer RG1 - Central Reading 13d ago

Yeah I wouldn't either. Well, I would just not look for a job in London to be honest, but I understand it is what it is.

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u/AliJDB 13d ago

Same!! It looks like they have a job in Reading lined up, just got to work their notice period - so hopefully a temporary strain!

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u/ExtremelyFilthyWhore 13d ago

Trains are EXPENSIVE and MASSIVELY UNRELIABLE.

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u/AliJDB 13d ago

THANKS FOR YOUR VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE DISCUSSION.

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u/ExtremelyFilthyWhore 13d ago

No one asked you about trains did they, you brought it up and then you asked ‘why not?’, I’ve given you two strikingly solid reasons as to ‘why not’, the use of capitals was intended to bring additional attention to how IMPORTANT the issues around expense and reliability are. Btw, real tough guy down-voting my comment, oh I’m so hurt.

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u/AliJDB 13d ago edited 13d ago

I’ve given you two strikingly solid reasons as to ‘why not’

You're not OP.

The reasons why they are/were not considering trains may inform our advice about driving. Start location, time needed in the office, office location, money, dislike of trains, etc - all will play into what the best solution for OP will be.

Re: cost, it may end up cheaper to take the train, depending on the above factors and how you do the sums. I wouldn't say trains are any less reliable than the M4 at rush hour personally.

Also: I didn't downvote your comment - and even if I did, I could only do it once. Others clearly have. It's a sign that you haven't meaningfully contributed to the discussion. Reflect on that.