London rush hour question: West End to Marylebone at midweek afternoon rush hour

[FrozenMamma38384]

I’m taking my kids to a midweek matinee in December in the West End. One has SEN and is really excited about going but crowds can be challenging for him. It finishes at 4:30pm so I’m a little anxious about hitting the afternoon rush hour when trying to get home. We have to make our way back to Marylebone to get a train.

I used to live in London so fairly comfortable with the transport but it’s been a few years. If we get a bus down the Strand to Charing Cross and then the Bakerloo line we can get on a train just after 5pm, or 5:30pm if we want leave some wiggle room - is that early enough not to get caught in rush hour in London? (Either way we’ll book seats in advance.)

Thanks I didn’t realise this. Are we likely to get seats after 7pm? We’re going towards Oxford.

I think there’s a Bill’s really close to the Peacock.

Some of the Christmas lights are already on! By December they will all be on.
Re the peak time Chiltern trains - peak time is 4-7pm. It’s more expensive to travel in this window and it’s busy. The first off-peak train after this is always very busy with loads of people waiting for off-peak. Travel from 7.30 and you’ll be fine.
Re food - there’s loads of places around the theatre and you have the pick of the west end and central London from there. Depends what sort of food you want.

Ditch the scooter- madness. You cannot lug that around on a bus or, if you use the tube up and down an escalator, etc. You would be VERY unpopular and it would be a trip hazard. You need to tell your child- no scooter .

A black cab might be around £15 -£20 but it depends on the traffic.

If you are going to Oxford, consider the Elizabeth line from Tottenham Court Road to Reading, then train from Reading to Oxford. Might be an easier route with a child.

Holborn to Tottenham Court Road Central line, Elizabeth Line to Paddington and train to Oxford? You can book seats on trains out of Paddington and the Elizabeth Line to mainline at Paddington is really easy.

Franco Manca on Catherine St - pretty well on the corner with Aldwych - and you can book.

You would be fine after 7.

You could also take the 91 bus north to euston and go west along euston road to Marylebone on the 18 bus.

Walk from Marylebone to Baker Street, it’s quicker than taking the tube one stop, and is just straight along road. Yhe tube to Oxford Circus, change to Central line. And same in reverse

Or book an Uber

Have a look on groupon for dinner, they often have some great offers for central London.
Mine love this
http://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/shoyu-restaurant-4?utm_campaign=UserReferral_mih&utm_source=undefined
or Real Greek

No, if it’s Tue-Thursday at around 5, it’s the busiest time. Have dinner, take a bus. Have fun!

Another option I’m thinking of getting a bus from Aldwych to Liverpool Street and then the Elizabeth line to Paddington. I know we’d still want to avoid rush hour but would this be ok as a journey?

(The first option being a slow bus through Oxford Street to Marylebone.)

I should have also mentioned my younger child is a baby and will be in a carrier. I’d rather avoid the underground if possible but the Elizabeth line would be fine.

Not sure if you saw my message but if you are going to take one bus, you could take another bus afterwards. Will be quicker than going the wrong direction and coming back on yourself.

Thanks - it looks like they link up at the same stop which is really helpful.

A bus to Liverpool St for the Elizabeth line would be going far backwards to go forwards. If you want the Elizabeth line, take a bus to Tottenham Court Rd instead which is much nearer Aldwych, it’ll take about 10 minutes then two stops to Paddington.

The cloakroom at The Peacock is for small items & coats. They can’t store large items or backpacks so I doubt they’d take a scooter.

id strongly advise eating after the show then waiting until a little later to travel back. My daughter used to work at a theatre on The Strand & everywhere was rammed that time of night.

Buses all the way if you’ve got a baby in a sling. Slower but relaxing and no escalators to manage

I did look at this but there’s an 8 min walk between the bus and the Elizabeth line (hard for my older child - he will want to be carried by his dad). I was a bit unsure about walking around Tottenham Court Road in the evening - it’s been a while - is it much like Oxford Street, well lit and busy?

Just to say after seven is no guarantee of seats on an Oxford bound train, it's still very busy then. Last night the 7.10pm was standing room only, very crowded with no delays. It's a busy line at all times, but nearer 8 will be better if you can spin out the meal longer.

If you’re at the Peacock Theatre, walk up to Holborn (5 minutes) and switch for Bakerloo at Oxford Circus. It’s not an onerous change - try and sit towards the front of the central line tube.

You really won’t have any issues with Marylebone Oxford bound trains before 6pm in terms of getting seats as long as you’re not trying to rush on in the last 5 minutes before departure. I can’t think of the last time I had to stand on a peak hour evening train unless I’ve been booking it & gotten on with seconds to spare, and I’m a daily commuter.

There isn’t a huge variation in peak vs off peak Chiltern tickets that would justify the expense of dinner (mine is only a couple of quid more expensive in peak hour). If you get an off peak daily ticket (assuming you’re not getting a train before 10am) then you don’t need to worry about the evening peak.

The only issue is that Oxford departures are roughly at 15 and 45 past so you might want to target the 45 past. Check the platform ahead of time on Realtime Trains and position yourself at the right side of the platforms to wait.

Getting on the Elizabeth line to Paddington to come back on the Bakerloo is quite slow and tends to take longer than the tube.

Thanks, that’s very helpful!