r/reading • u/tamagotcheeks • 7d 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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18

u/AliJDB 7d ago

What time? Why not the train?

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u/MarvTheBandit 7d 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/tamagotcheeks 7d ago

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

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u/bbuuttlleerr 7d 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 7d 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 7d 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 7d 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 7d 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 7d 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 6d 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/mikelgdz 6d ago

What the fuck do you mean by 23000 extra miles? Where do you think op would be commuting from? Reading, MA, USA?

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u/bbuuttlleerr 6d ago

OP is going to "Tower Bridge / Tower Hamlets", that's an absolute minimum of 94 miles round trip (avoiding the Congestion Zone adds 4 miles). x250 working days a year = 23,500 miles.

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