Is anyone here familiar with Slough train station?

[Tacocatgoatcheesepizza]

I’m thinking of driving there on Wednesday afternoon to go into London on the Elizabeth line.
Is anyone a regular user who might be able to give me an idea of whether I’m likely to find a car parking space around 4pm on Wednesday afternoon or is it always full?

I get terrible parking anxiety 🫣

Thank you!

Be aware that the Lizzy line that far out is v slow going and there are no toilets on the train!

Really? It says it only takes about 40m to get into central London.

There are a couple of car parks close by. I had a meeting there at 4.30 pm on a weekday. I came by train but two other colleagues drove and met me at our station meeting point. Neither mentioned parking problems. By 4pm the early travellers will be back picking up their cars and going home.

Compared to what the fast GWR train service takes, that is ages!

GWR's direct non-stop trains can do it in 20 minutes.

We've always managed to park when we’ve been at various times and days of the week.

Depending where you want to go, may be quicker getting on a GWR train

Drive to Taplow. Plenty of free road side parking there

But that will be to Paddington.
Not "central" London.

You can easily switch to the Lizzy line at Paddington.

Yes but in reference to the person that said GWR is quicker when you add in the time to get off the train, walk to the Lizzy Line and then get that train into central London it's probably actually similar amount of travel time in total.
Personally I would prefer a 40 minute journey without the faff of changing trains at Paddington to a slightly shorter journey time.

I’m heading to Tottenham Court Road hence thinking this could be a good option.

We usually drive to Ickenham and get Piccadilly/met line in but we are coming back late and I’m a bit anxious as they’ve had very dodgy service the last few days!

I always prefer a slightly longer but more straightforward journey!!

Really?? Right by the station? We won’t get back until after 11pm and I will have ds11 with me.

Me too 🙂

If you normally park at Ickenham, park at West Ruislip instead and get the central line straight through to Tottenham Court Road. 47 minutes ish

Do you know if there are usually spaces at around 4pm?
I think we’ve just always stuck with Ickenham because we’ve never had a problem getting a space!

Ickenham is fine because Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square also work as a destination, but the Piccadilly and metropolitan lines seem to have a lot of problems at the mo, plus trains out towards Uxbridge are not so regular as trains to West Ruislip so that could be a good shout - we are not coming back until quite late and then I’ve still got a 2 hour drive to get home 🫣

You will definitely find parking as there are 4 separate carparks. I'd park in the old TVU carpark which is over the road, there will be spaces at 4pm as people will already be on their way home by then, and you pay using the Ringgo app.

I’ve parked at that time and would use the Lizzie line into central - no issues! My record time is 1 hour from a theatre show finishing to arriving home.
It’s not the parking that’s an issue - but the fact that the Lizzie line often has problems!

I travel to Tottenham Court Toad from Slough quite often. It’s a very easy journey. 😊

I have never had any difficulty parking. If the main car park is full then there is an extra car park under the bridge to the left of the station (if you’re approaching from the south by Tesco).

My daughter and I constantly have the debates about trains. I prefer the slower Lizzy line with no changes. She prefers the fastest GWR train and then changing. I really can’t be bothered with the latter - walking across Paddington is a pain. I’m happy to sit with my phone and doom scroll. No, there isn’t a toilet but there is one on the platform where the train goes from.

Enjpy your trip. Are you going anywhere nice?

On a side note people who park on the road by Taplow station are a pain in the proverbial! That road is not designed for parking plus the amount of cars that go back and forth.

@polkadotelephant we are just going to watch Beetlejuice. But it’s the late showing and it’s always such a worry getting home (we live in the Midlands)

You’d never guess it from the slightly panicked nature of my posts but I did in fact work in central London for years!! I just get super stressed about parking and making sure we can get back ok.

Change to the tube at Paddington. I used to do GWR to Paddington then Bakerloo to Charing X.

That took just under an hour, platform to platform.

Only ever tried it once on the Lizzy. Never again.

What wasn't good with the Lizzy Line?
I've only used it a few times (but only in London itself) and the journeys were fine.

It doesn't take long to Central London at all. There are faster Lizzy line trains too. Most people can last 40 minutes without a toilet.

I have done it several times and never had an issue parking. It is my go to place for London day trips now. Used to be Hounslow