Hereford - London - Cardiff

[thoughtprovokingname]

After a bit of travel advice.

My son lives in Camden and I live in Hereford I am looking to take him to Cardiff tomorrow but he doesn't drive.

Where would be the best/easiest place to meet him just outside London that he can use public transport to get too?

@GoodVibesHere and it's cheaper to drive to the outskirts of london than to get the train for £120...

@GoodVibesHere how have i not? read the original post and tell me what they were asking for ??????

Which Hereford do you live in? Because the one in Herefordshire has buses - including one to Cardiff, actually - and pretty regular train departures from its significantly sized station.

@nothingjustaninchident

I'm also from Hereford and this is nonsense. There are direct trains to multiple big cities all over the country, as well as other towns in the county, several times a day.

@GunkyAndGungey so £120 on train tickets or £80 to fill up a tank of fuel (that isn't going to get fully used)? i know which one i'd rather do

I’ve lived in Hereford almost 30 years, Tupsley specifically so not the outer areas but public transport is fairly ubiquitous!
That said I have family living just outside Ledbury that wouldn’t have a clue that you could get a direct train!

@GirlsWithGuitars it was even more significantly sized when you could pop to Rockfield in between connections 😁

@GunkyAndGungey so you would know the exact bus and train timetables if i asked you?
around here we're lucky to have a public bus go past every other hour and sometimes it won't come for a gap of 3 or 4 hours...
therefore, living around here you're not going to be used to public transport like they would do in london or cardiff

You're very rude, please don't come to Cardiff, we don't like your type.

The OP was asking for travel advice.

@GoodVibesHere yes travel advice to the outskirts of london not london to cardiff which is the only thing people see to have taken

But why would you practically drive past Cardiff on the awful M5/M40 or the equally awful A40 through Birdlip to Oxford or the M5 to get to London? It would take most of the day?

Really bizarre plan, like going to London via Paris.

What is the main issue here? The cost of train tickets to Cardiff? Or is there another reason why he doesn't want to take the train?

You could drive to Reading and meet him at the train station if he gets one of the many trains from Paddington, but it seems mad for him not to carry on the direct line to Cardiff. Depending on traffic it could take you three hours to get to Reading from Hereford, then another two hours back to Cardiff, then you'd have to take him back to Reading, then drive yourself back to Hereford...

The time involved in all that driving, plus the cost, would make the train seem a much easier option, and probably not much more expensive if you get off peak tickets or have railcards.

What about ULEZ/congestion charges?

If you really want to pick him up in London, I'd suggest Hammersmith. It's easy to get to off the M4 and he'll be able to get a tube there. However as others have said, unless there's a back story and he isn't capable of getting himself on a train from Paddington, that would be the cheapest/quickest/simplest option.

I took my ULEZ compliant car and didn’t go into the congestion charge zone before 6pm.(Was seeing a show on the southbank.). Left at 11:30pm.

If him going straight to Cardiff doesn’t appeal, I’d look at the stations just outside the M25 on the GWR line - Langley, Slough, Burnham, Taplow are all quite close to M4 junctions and you’d avoid the mad London traffic.

Worked out £40 fuel and £6 parking between 2 of us. There also wasn’t enough time to guarantee getting to Paddington for the last train.

Waves to Herefordians 👋

I grew up opposite the train station in Hereford. I’m fairly certain it featured trains, at least, I could hear them all hours of the day and night and popped to Manchester/London/Cardiff a few times. I was born in Tupsley @TheGirlWhoLived

How about he gets National Express coach from London to somewhere like Cheltenham/Gloucester? Both easy to pick up at bus station and a much shorter drive for you. If he gets up early enough, the coach even goes onto Hereford from those places, so you could take him from your home town.

Of you time it right you get the same train. The Hereford train goes down to Newport and then on to Cardiff. London g Cardiff goes through Newport. Can change to get the same in Newport or meet in Cardiff

@TheOutlaws well it all really depends which side of whittern way 🤣

@TheGirlWhoLived Hahaha let’s call it Hampton Dene instead