St Albans City -> Reading and back

[frustin]

I'm looking for some advice on the best way to commute from St Albans City station to Reading each day. It'll be peak time travel.

I'm thinking, St Albans -> Farringdon-> paddington underground -> Reading

Looking at journey planner it's saying £42.20 per day, which is a lot of money.

 

[John Webb]

Great shame there's no direct link between the North London line and the Paddington/Reading line in the Acton area - you could then have done a change at West Hampstead and at Acton and avoided the central London area all together, which may have reduced the cost? Possibly North London line to Shepherd's Bush on the section that goes to Clapham Junction and pick up the Central line to Ealing Broadway? But I don't have knowledge of the fares so can't tell you if any of these are cheaper - sorry!

 

[Clip]

I'm looking for some advice on the best way to commute from St Albans City station to Reading each day. It'll be peak time travel.

I'm thinking, St Albans -> Farringdon-> paddington underground -> Reading

Looking at journey planner it's saying £42.20 per day, which is a lot of money.

You dont need to go to Farringdon as the circle goes from kings cross/st pancras to paddington so this will speed up your journey. As for peak time fares I cant help but if you are doing it more than 3 days a week then look into getting weeklies/monthlies to reduce the cost a little

 

[Haywain]

£43.20 for a through ticket is cheaper than a ticket from Paddington to Reading, so the prospects for saving money look limited, other than by buying season tickets with a 7-day season costing about the same as 4 day tickets. The savings look to be a bit better for period seasons as there appears to be a lower 7-day rate for calculation of period seasons.

As this would is a cross London season, the station might not be able to confirm the price immediately, but it is worth asking.

 

[PeterC]

changing at St Pancras gives you a long treck to the Circle Line while staying on until Farringdon will involve more time on the train but give a cross platform change outbound. I couldn't say which would prove a better bet and would try both. Taking a ramble round the North London Line is unlikely to be a viable alternative in terms of time.

To be honest where public transport involves a "two sides of a triangle" journey like that I would seriously consider driving.

 

[RJ]

If you're in a hurry, changing at West Hampstead then again at Baker Street is quicker than continuing into St Pancras.

 

[silvercar]

If you're in a hurry, changing at West Hampstead then again at Baker Street is quicker than continuing into St Pancras.

This is generally quicker than going to St Pancras or Farringdon.

Farringdon is a far easier change than St Pancras. The time difference is minimal. Farringdon also has the advantage that you are more likely to get a seat on the return journey.

 

[AM9]

This is generally quicker than going to St Pancras or Farringdon.

Farringdon is a far easier change than St Pancras. The time difference is minimal. Farringdon also has the advantage that you are more likely to get a seat on the return journey.

Indeed, the connection time from TL southbound to LU westbound can be as little as 30 seconds if you alight near the short flights of steps.
You are also more likely to get a seat on the WB H&C/Circle line at Farringdon than Kings Cross in the am rush. Not many passengers board WB tubes there but hoardes do at Kings Cross having travelled in from the MML/ECML/GN/HS1 trains.

 

[frustin]

Thanks for all your responses.

What does this bit mean in red? How do I work out what a monthly rail card would cost?

£43.20 for a through ticket is cheaper than a ticket from Paddington to Reading, so the prospects for saving money look limited, other than by buying season tickets with a 7-day season costing about the same as 4 day tickets. The savings look to be a bit better for period seasons as there appears to be a lower 7-day rate for calculation of period seasons.

As this would is a cross London season, the station might not be able to confirm the price immediately, but it is worth asking.

 

[Haywain]

It means that the TOC hasn't priced the whole journey and you would need to ask them to confirm the price for both weekly and monthly/longer period seasons.

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

 

[LexyBoy]

Cross-London Season tickets are manually created rather than being "off the shelf" like most tickets. They always include a Travelcard element giving you unlimited travel within Zones 1-6.

The calculation is to sum the appropriate Travelcards from origin and destination, and subtract the cost of a Zones 1-6 Travelcard - in this case 405.90+400.20-227.00=£579.10 per month. Season tickets can be purchased for any period between a month and a year, so that you can for example buy a ticket covering you until your next holiday and avoid paying for days you won't use.

As I don't drive I can't comment on the journey by car, but Google reckons on 1h15-2h which is similar to the train but probably more stressful owing to M25 and Reading traffic. OTOH on the train, crossing London is a pain and Thameslink is busy - the trains to/from Reading will be better though - busier in the evening but you can count on getting a seat. As suggested, changing at Farringdon makes it about as good as crossing London can get.

I guess that - if you do drive - it will come down to (a) how far from St Albans station you live, and where in Reading you will work, and (b) how much you value a journey by train over the extra expense, and possibly time (depending on (a)).

 

[frustin]

thank you ever so much

 

[MarlowDonkey]

To be honest where public transport involves a "two sides of a triangle" journey like that I would seriously consider driving.

A quick check on the National Rail enquiries site shows non-stop trains from both St Albans to St Pancras and Paddington to Reading ( or with one stop at Slough). That leaves the timing variable as to how quickly you can get from the train arriving at St Pancras to being on the platform at Paddington. Whether the Farringdon option works better than walking at St Pancras may depend on how fast you walk.

National Rail enquiries overestimates the time it takes in practice to get from one London terminal to another by a traveller experienced on the route in question.

The cost shouldn't exceed the cost of separate tickets St Albans to Zone 1236 and Paddington to Reading. You could use St Albans to London Terminals and Zone 1236 to Reading. Farringdon isn't a London Terminal so you would be switching to the other ticket.

 

[yorkie]

Edit: scrap that, don't bother going via Farringdon!

As others have said, do plan ahead to get optimal value tickets (e.g. if I was starting work on Monday 25th of July, I'd want the Season to be expiring on Friday 26th August, and my next one would start on Tuesday 30th August and expiring on Friday 30th September, assuming no annual leave is taken and the Bank Holiday would be a day off)

 

[MarlowDonkey]

If it was me, I'd change at Farringdon when travelling from Reading towards St Albans, as it's cross-platform interchange and you'll be much more likely to get a seat (some people will alight at St Pancras, so even if there are no seats from Farringdon, you may still find some become available).

The Circle/Met platforms are to the North of the station at Farrington, so it's cross platform if heading east on Thameslink (from St Albans) and west on the Circle (towards Paddington).

National Rail enquiries gives a three minute advantage to the Farringdon route in the St Albans to Reading direction, but assumes 15 minutes to get to the Circle line at St Pancras.

 

[nickswift99]

One factor to consider is where you're travelling to in Reading.

Journey times by road are very slow once you've got off the M4/A329(M) if you're travelling to the town centre. Equally, journeys by bus from the station can be a time challenge to the main office parks.

I used to do the reverse commute for 7 years. M25 anticlockwise from the M1 to M25 is bad in the morning and the reverse true in the evening (particularly M4 to M40) and more recently I've noticed the M4 get really slow from mid afternoon from J10 (Reading East) to the M25.

If you are travelling to central Reading, I'd be surprised if the train was much slower door to door.

 

[frustin]

yep. i've been keeping an eye on google maps and it says pretty much on a daily basis 1hr 40mins +- st albans -> reading centre, by car. NO IDEA where i'd park once in, but the cost of that is going to be £10-15 anyway plus fuel.

Train will be less stressful for me i think. i used to do chelmsford -> victoria for 2 years and that was 1hr 45mins door to door.

 

[Clip]

changing at St Pancras gives you a long treck to the Circle Line while staying on until Farringdon will involve more time on the train but give a cross platform change outbound..

Lets be fair it isnt that far and it would all depend on how quickly you walk as for me it doesnt take long at all even when I have the missus with me

 

[MarlowDonkey]

(particularly M4 to M40)

There's an alternative route via the A404(M) and A404, but beware congestion at the Maidenhead Thicket roundabout, the Bisham roundabout and Handy Cross interchange.

 

[frustin]

There's an alternative route via the A404(M) and A404, but beware congestion at the Maidenhead Thicket roundabout, the Bisham roundabout and Handy Cross interchange.

where do you park in reading?

 

[Haywain]

Lets be fair it isnt that far and it would all depend on how quickly you walk as for me it doesnt take long at all even when I have the missus with me

Travelling through Farringdon on the outward (SAC-RDG) journey allows cross-platform interchange, while on the return it improves the chances of getting a seat on the northbound train. I can see no advantage in changing at St Pancras for this journey.

 

[Clip]

Travelling through Farringdon on the outward (SAC-RDG) journey allows cross-platform interchange, while on the return it improves the chances of getting a seat on the northbound train. I can see no advantage in changing at St Pancras for this journey.

And if thte cross platform change is good for then yay I never said there was any advantage anyway just merely pointing out that the walk isnt that far as one poster has claimed. Soz like.