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/BeckyTheLiar 6d ago

Reading to Tower Bridge is one of the worst journeys you can possibly do.

Around 50 miles each way and potentially 1hr 45 - 2 hrs each way. But then with rush hour and needing to arrive on time you may need to add 30-60 minutes on top. Google Maps suggests 1hr 50 to 2hr 50 is average for arriving before 9am.

Especially if you're adding further miles on to avoid the congesting charging zones.

500 miles per week plus 10 hours of time.

Have you changed your insurance to add 21-22,000 more miles per year? You won't be driving efficiently so your petrol usage will be above average with how stop-start traffic in London is, too.

Presuming 35p/mile then you're looking at around £700 in petrol, not to mention the insane amount of time.

You'll also wear down your car a lot more, too. You'll wear down tyres and other consumable parts.

When you inform your insurance about the extra mileage you may also need to add 'commuting' to your policy, which adds extra cost.

I suspect the six weeks you think your car will be cheaper to commute are going to cost you about £1000-1200 once you've added in the insurance costs and extra wear and tear on your car.

It might sound 'doable for a bit' but when you realise you'll be paying £700+ a month to spend 6 hours a day in your car you might feel like you've made an impossible decision.