London Peoples- Paddington to City

mitb

It looks like I am being made redundant. Bummer. I currently have a 14 mile each way ride or drive but the best opportunities for what I do outside of this company are in the City. It feels like a massive upheaval and I'm not sure I could bear it, but I wanted to get some opinions and experience if possible.

I do Reading to Paddington, tube into the City sometimes for site visits and it's always feels a bit of an epic. Do any of you do anything similar, is there a way to use my bike to make it quicker and more reliable, and cheaper? What would a ride from Paddington to the City be like, can you take your bike on those (Mainline) trains or is it folder-only? It'd be useful for my house to Reading Station too. I wonder if maybe you can stop short of Paddington and ride the rest?

Any advice would be hugely appreciated, it's something I'm going to have to pursue sharpish if I think it's a goer...

cjcp

ITB to the thread, paging ITB!

EDIT: he comes in from Marlborough. Good luck with the hunt.

PWW

I take the bike on the train from Didcot to Paddington (via Reading) then cycle to Canary Wharf. There is room on the fast service for about 6 bikes in total and these can be reserved, though I have not found a need to at Didcot. My cycle takes me through Hyde Park along the Mall to Trafalgar Square and then along Embankment, it takes about 25min to the City once you have been stopped by every single traffic light!

It's not the easiest commute but preferable to the tube!

Phil

cjcp

I've ridden to/from Paddington from/to the City and it was ok. An almost identical route to Phil. Loads of bikes on that route.

rjsterry

Depends which bit of the City. I've just this morning come along Marylebone Road, Euston Road, up to Angel and down City Road to Old Street r'about, which is efficient, but not the nicest cycling experience. Phil/CJ's route takes you to the southern side of the City, and is much more enjoyable, although Marble Arch and HPC r'abouts are quite exciting on a bike.

mitb

Thank you all, makes me a bit more positive. I can;t be precise about where I'd be heading but broadly speaking sounds preferable to the tube. Six bike spaces sounds a bit limited though, there must be six in there by the time it leaves Reading? How do you go about reserving them, if you have a season ticket can you get a regular reservation with it?

I feel quite commute-hardened and traffic savvy in Berks/Bucks but I bet London makes a man of you!

t4tomo

DOn't be worried about london traffic - off the main routes its actually reasonably light and very slow moving, yo just need to find the right back streets and bike only routes to make it more pleasent

PWW

To reserve you can go in in advance and give in a list of all the trains you would like to reserve. They will then give you a pair (1 for you 1 for the bike) of tickets for each reservation. Unfortunately you cannot link it directly to your season ticket, I tried!


I would reserve a space for the first week then see how it goes from there. There always seems to be space at Reading. Its a little harder on the way back as more spaces are reserved. I have not failed to get on a train yet but at peak times the spaces are more limited. With trains leaving about every 15min you wouldn't have to wait long.

Phil

mitb

Thanks Phil, does it cost to reserve (beyond the normal excellent value ticket price)? I know it'll be approximate and not the same but what sort of time does your journey take?

Does anyone get off a bit earlier? I can't remember the stops before Paddington, not sure if there'd be any benefit. It might be frustrating not being able to ride all the way, on a good day some extra miles might be nice. IF it comes to it, I guess these are things that can be worked on and worked out.

PWW

No, costs nothing. Surprised me too!

All the fast trains go straight to Paddington from Reading without stopping and takes about 25min. My total commute is about 2 hours. It takes me 20min to get home once I leave Reading and about 20min from the City to Canary Wharf so for you about 1:15 from Reading station.

There are some slow trains that stop anywhere and everywhere you could use if you want to increase the cycling distance.

Phil

mitb

Oooooh yes, that would explain why I couldn't remember what stations came before Paddington!

Your estimate looks pretty good, and 1h15m isn't bad. Longer than now but only about 20 more than riding to Marlow by bike. It's not prohibitive like I thought it was anyway, I've really got to consider it...