Commuting from Reading to London

[Attenboroughsmistress]

Hello! Obviously lots of threads on this but wanted to start my own incase new insights to be had!

We are looking at moving to one of the pretty villages around Reading, we have a 1 year old and a dog and would like more space. I would love my child and hopefully future children to have more of a “wild” nature upbringing rather than total city life.

We do need to get to London for work however. My DH needs to get to Victoria 4 x a week and I need to get to city - Moorgate/Bank/Monument/London Bridge all work 3 x a week.

My timings are immensely flexible in current role, sort of just need to show face in office but can start/end work at home. DH mornings flexible but can’t leave until after 18:00.

A few of our friends have moved to places with “40 mins to London” trains recently and seem to be doing alright but just wanted to hear some more experiences.

Your honest view - is it worth the commute for the space and more greenery?

We keep holding back because of all the things London has to offer but since having a child it I make an honest assessment we only manage to walk the dog in the same small parks, if we go out to eat we choose the same favourite restaurants, we last went to the theatre probably 1.5 years ago, art galleries make me sleepy (how embarrassing lol but true), and we see our non-London friends more than our London friends because we can go and stay with them for the weekend and everyone in London so busy with kids etc that organising a get together requires 2 months notice anyway!

I just feel like we are clinging onto London for the “idea” rather than the practicalities of life with a young child.

Please help! :)

Not sure how compatible the wild nature upbringing is with you both working in London, but it sounds like living south rather than west would make more sense as a starting point then you can get into Victoria and London Bridge direct rather than adding the tubes into the mix, plus the drive at the village end is untenable. I'd forget Reading and start over with a train map and a house that's walkable to a station on it. Wild nature doesn't have to be on all sides of the house and if you want schools and amenities as well as a viable commute, it'll probably be the compromise. Or if wild nature is the big thing, rethink the careers in London.

While there are some v good services into Paddington eg Kemble right in the Cotswolds is only an hour and a quarter, I think Paddington itself is the most inconvenient of the London stations. Tubes from there eg to the City always take ages and it's not really near anything you might want to visit on a day out.

@romatheroamer , eg Kemble right in the Cotswolds is only an hour and a quarter No idea of that route but the hour and a quarter is probably based on being on a certain train and there being no delays.
My nearest station has a 13 minutes to Paddington service, but not all train journeys are that quick. There is also the time it takes me to get to the station platform to factor in, plus the time to get from Paddington to my destination.

My actual travelling time door-to-door is probably nearer an hour.

@Attenboroughsmistress , How about Datchet? Not rural but on the Waterloo line and not far from Slough/Windsor (about 2 miles) for Paddington.

Look at Shiplake. It is on the Henley branch line and is 5 mins on the train to Twyford. The fast train to London Paddington and the Lizzie line stop there.
Henley is also an option too.

48 Best Home Counties Spots for London Commuters

You could look at places on the Reading-Basingstoke line - your DH might find Basingstoke-Clapham Junction-Victoria a better commute, even though the trains take a bit longer. With the changes, you are probably looking at an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half each way.

The villages in question are Bramley (Hants) and Mortimer (Berks).
Bramley station is more integrated with the village, easy to walk to.

If you both need to go into different stations, that will inevitably make (at least) one person’s commute a bit harder

Cookham. 38 mins to Paddington.

Reading traffic if you have to cross the river is bad, which is why people go through Sonning. The buses are brilliant though, so somewhere like Woodley or Earley or the university area would get you into town - but they are small towns not villages.

What about somewhere going into Waterloo, where you would have the Waterloo and City and your DH could change at Clapham for Victoria? Haslemere, Guildford, or one of the Woking villages like Horsell might suit.

I don’t see the point in moving out of London, at least to Reading anyway.
There is just so much on offer there. Why spend the tens of thousands moving out, only to commute back in?
Wherever you move too, unless you are willing to day trip or drive out, you’ll soon become used to the local environment.

Kemble to London day return is £138. Bramley to London is £71. It adds up, especially if two of you travelling.

Twyford is good for Elizabeth Line & Paddington. I think you could commute from there to Wokingham (there's a bus or you can park at the station far better than you can in Twyford) and get the train there, changing at Charing X for Victoria in about 1 min 20. Schools are good there too.

I wasn't suggesting Kemble as a home for the OP, my post was about the pros and cons of Paddington!

Do any of the fast trains stop at Twyford between Reading and Maidenhead. It’s a nice area.

Agreed.

Caversham is good for walking to Reading station as long as OP chooses the right property but it's not a village. The centre has a nice feel though.

Tilehurst ... no.

Agree with others Sonning is awful traffic. Twyford good for using the Elizabeth line into London, especially if you live near the station. The station car park gets full very early, according to a friend who lives there.

Reading station does have trains that go into Waterloo but they are very slow as stop at loads of places on the way.

I wouldn’t move out to Reading when you spend majority of your week in London. It’s expensive and time consuming. I’d look at moving somewhere with more green space and good transport connections.

Yes looking into it I have to agree! Especially DH’s work - I can’t work out why Victoria and Paddington look so near each other on the map but so god awful to actually travel between. I did suggest to DH that perhaps he could become a Brampton Biker and cycle through Hyde park to reduce commute but he was horrified 😂. I think we will reassess as per PP advice and look south!

Think you might as well go for Twyford instead rather using a branch line.

If you are on a branch line you'll probably have to wait for connecting trains sometimes.

The trains to Waterloo are slow.

Paddington to Victoria isn't that bad - Bakerloo to Oxford St then the Victoria line. The tube can be tiring - the newer lines are better.

I thought the fast train from Reading didn't stop anywhere until it reached Paddington? The one I get doesn't, that's why we get it.

And It always makes me laugh on these threads when people refer to Caversham as a "village near Reading". It's part of Reading! Some parts of it are minutes away from the station.

As long as you enjoy reading.

I’m in Newbury, which is 20 minutes south of Reading. I go to Paddington once a week which is absolutely fine but Victoria/ city 3 or 4 times a week would be way too much from Reading. In my opinion obvs

The service is dreadful, I have made that mistake a couple of times, never again!

From Reading there is a fast train to London Paddington & a slow train to London Waterloo

Same.