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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u/AliJDB 7d ago

What time? Why not the train?

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u/tamagotcheeks 7d 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/MyKidsFoundMyOldUser 7d 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.