Trains into London - can anyone help?

Jannyfox

Jannyfox

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So I'm going to London for the horse show the Saturday before Christmas. We're staying at Woking so it should be train into Waterloo then onto the underground. Simple - do it every time we go to London.............. except South West Railway is going on strike that day :( I'm desperately hoping they call the strike off, but if they don't, anyone out there in the south east know how we can get from Woking to London (any main line station) lunchtime/early afternoon and back about 11 pm? AFAIK South West Trains are the only ones that run through Woking. Or, worst case, any idea where we might park if we drove in? I know there's not much parking around Olympia where the show is but anywhere on the District undergound or the Olympia overground route would do it.
Can you tell I'm a seasoned London traveller - not!
 
I am not a frequent user of the rail to get to London so please take the following as thinking out loud ~ we live near Woking and it is our main route into London as needed.

I thought , what about Weybridge to Waterloo......................but just checked and as far as i can tell that is also South West Railways :(

It has been a while since I had to think of alternate routes but if you drive to Wimbledon it will likely be packed with pre-Xmas shoppers and as such the car parks will be jammed!!!! :( Though do any of the private car parks let you pre book a space???

These from Woking would need a trip up the A3 towards London...............so be prepared to cope with it's traffic 'problems' especially in the light of the strike you mention.
What about Raynes Park or Worcester Park, or New Malden to Waterloo
These are all, it seems, served by South Eastern Railways..................................but the same pre-planning 'mare of where to park.

HTH and Best of luck getting round all the transport problems and I hope you enjoy the show :)
 
Jannyfox said:
So I'm going to London for the horse show the Saturday before Christmas. We're staying at Woking so it should be train into Waterloo then onto the underground. Simple - do it every time we go to London.............. except South West Railway is going on strike that day :( I'm desperately hoping they call the strike off, but if they don't, anyone out there in the south east know how we can get from Woking to London (any main line station) lunchtime/early afternoon and back about 11 pm? AFAIK South West Trains are the only ones that run through Woking. Or, worst case, any idea where we might park if we drove in? I know there's not much parking around Olympia where the show is but anywhere on the District undergound or the Olympia overground route would do it.
Can you tell I'm a seasoned London traveller - not!
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If I were driving in for there I'd either drive to Olypimia with the attendant problems, or else go for Richmond/Kew or even Hammersmith and jump on the district line there. Parking will be expensive at any of those but not a nightmare (although the Saturday before christmas...)
 
I hadn't considered Christmas shoppers thrown into the mix as well. Also hadn't considered reserving parking. I'm just a country maid.......... The overground line to Olympia goes through Clapham Junction. And having checked there's reservable parking there. What I don't know is how easy it is to get there off the A3. Cost isn't too much of an issue since going in to Waterloo we'd have to pay to park at Woking station and the train fares. Everywhere else the overground train goes to is either also in the middle of London or the wrong side of London. New Maldon has a car park and looks to be only just off the A3 so is a possibility too. And you go to Clapham Junction not Waterloo. Thanks both - certainly given me some ideas. I'm just so glad my partner decided to come with me. Originally I was going on my own and there's no way I'd drive in London.
 
Jannyfox said:
I hadn't considered Christmas shoppers thrown into the mix as well. Also hadn't considered reserving parking. I'm just a country maid.......... The overground line to Olympia goes through Clapham Junction. And having checked there's reservable parking there. What I don't know is how easy it is to get there off the A3. Cost isn't too much of an issue since going in to Waterloo we'd have to pay to park at Woking station and the train fares. Everywhere else the overground train goes to is either also in the middle of London or the wrong side of London. New Maldon has a car park and looks to be only just off the A3 so is a possibility too. And you go to Clapham Junction not Waterloo. Thanks both - certainly given me some ideas. I'm just so glad my partner decided to come with me. Originally I was going on my own and there's no way I'd drive in London.
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If you are ok driving in I would look at an app like justpark. People rent out private parking spaces usually for a reasonable amount that you can pre book. We have done it few times when I've taken my son and his friends to a football match and didn't want to face packed underground trains with young kids.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
Drive in. Spend a few minutes on google maps and I'm sure you will find reasonable free residential parking option. Don't feed the communist transport run by globalists.
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Hmmm! this is Saturday before Xmas in London, the chances of finding a free to use bit of road in a residential street are IMO slim to none....but I suppose it depends how long anyone is prepared to spend driving around just looking for the 'few & far between ones still available'............simply because even during the week there are so few that are not "controlled" in one way or another (depending on which borough, how close to the train station you are planning to try to park and how close to the (in the OP's case) venue location are you trying to get to.

The residential areas ~ all too many have roads controlled by:-
Pay & Display machines
Permit Holder only (though some have odd times that non holders can park)
Double Yellow Line restrictions
NB there seems to a sort inverse square law when it applies to the restrictions ~ the closer you get to the destination the greater the level of control in place, to the point that in some areas in London there literally no freely available spaces. And beware parking on what looks like "free" area that is actually private land monitored by ANPR cameras......if you want to see how capitalism works just wait till you get the swingeing PCN letter!

The level of control is greater & more restrictive the closer in to London you get and in the case of those places further out, yes you will find some streets with greater areas of unrestricted parking but these will be some distance from trains and public transport.........and as mentioned being Saturday many more residents will likely be at home = fewer for random parkers.
 
Box Brownie said:
Hmmm! this is Saturday before Xmas in London, the chances of finding a free to use bit of road in a residential street are IMO slim to none....but I suppose it depends how long anyone is prepared to spend driving around just looking for the 'few & far between ones still available'............simply because even during the week there are so few that are not "controlled" in one way or another (depending on which borough, how close to the train station you are planning to try to park and how close to the (in the OP's case) venue location are you trying to get to.

The residential areas ~ all too many have roads controlled by:-
Pay & Display machines
Permit Holder only (though some have odd times that non holders can park)
Double Yellow Line restrictions
NB there seems to a sort inverse square law when it applies to the restrictions ~ the closer you get to the destination the greater the level of control in place, to the point that in some areas in London there literally no freely available spaces. And beware parking on what looks like "free" area that is actually private land monitored by ANPR cameras......if you want to see how capitalism works just wait till you get the swingeing PCN letter!

The level of control is greater & more restrictive the closer in to London you get and in the case of those places further out, yes you will find some streets with greater areas of unrestricted parking but these will be some distance from trains and public transport.........and as mentioned being Saturday many more residents will likely be at home = fewer for random parkers.
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I know London is a real PITA. I try to avoid it as a plague. There are still some real nice bits for parking left like Lower Lea crossing which takes you basically to the financial district. Zone 4-6 usually means easy parking one way or the other and you can hopefully survive the rest of the travel, but these days I'd probably just pick the pricier option and drive door to door. Your life is more valuable.
 
Guildford(or Farnborough North) to Paddington via Reading on GWR?
 
Mozthecat said:
Guildford(or Farnborough North) to Paddington via Reading on GWR?
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Good point, I had forgotten that Guildford had a cross route.......but is that used by another company I.e. not just South Western to reach Reading and catch a GWR service ???
 
Mozthecat said:
Guildford(or Farnborough North) to Paddington via Reading on GWR?
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Box Brownie said:
Good point, I had forgotten that Guildford had a cross route.......but is that used by another company I.e. not just South Western to reach Reading and catch a GWR service ???
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We are now looking at places outside London, not too far from Woking, served by different rail companies. I've just found you can view the departure boards of stations from Google maps - didn't know you could do that. Looks like Slough, to get on the Reading - Paddington route, which is definitely GWR all the way. About 45 min to drive from Woking to Slough. Not ideal but do-able if we have to.
 
Jannyfox said:
We are now looking at places outside London, not too far from Woking, served by different rail companies. I've just found you can view the departure boards of stations from Google maps - didn't know you could do that. Looks like Slough, to get on the Reading - Paddington route, which is definitely GWR all the way. About 45 min to drive from Woking to Slough. Not ideal but do-able if we have to.
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Have not checked this but I thought that Ascot had a railway station. A little south of Slough though subject to parking might be more accessible than Slough ??? NB whether Slough or Ascot.........maybe even Bracknell???

Note ~ if Ascot or Slough - is there a pre Xmas race meeting and not to forget any event at Legoland. Bracknell once past the junction split on the A322 used to be a simply run if there are Ascot or Legoland events.

Edit ~ just had a quick look and apparently Bracknell is served by both GWR and South Western Railway.
 
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Box Brownie said:
Have not checked this but I thought that Ascot had a railway station. A little south of Slough though subject to parking might be more accessible than Slough ??? NB whether Slough or Ascot.........maybe even Bracknell???

Note ~ if Ascot or Slough - is there a pre Xmas race meeting and not to forget any event at Legoland. Bracknell once past the junction split on the A322 used to be a simply run if there are Ascot or Legoland events.

Edit ~ just had a quick look and apparently Bracknell is served by both GWR and South Western Railway.
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South West Trains again. Seems that everything south of the M4 is SWT............... Bracknell is another where it's SWT to Reading for the GWR to London.
Time and delays are not too much of an issue - we'll be going in early anyway to look round the shopping village and eat first. Returning there shouldn't be any traffic delays. We can check the traffic/travel situation before we leave Woking. I don't think Legoland would affect us as we'd probably take the M25 all the way or come off before Heathrow but through Datchett rather than Windsor. Unless of course the M25 was a car park and we went cross country.......... Following my partner's sat nav we could end up anywhere. It has some funny ideas sometimes.
 
The only thing I would say about coming to Reading (I live here) is that the parking is very expensive - would you be better off driving to Harrow and getting the tube from there?
 
BTW enjoy Olympia - I've not been since I was a kid but I loved it :)
 
Daysleeper40 said:
The only thing I would say about coming to Reading (I live here) is that the parking is very expensive - would you be better off driving to Harrow and getting the tube from there?
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TBH whatever we have to pay is immaterial - we just need to get there. Harrow is a bit of a camel trek from Woking and a bit of a convoluted tube journey as well. Slough is still looking the best bet atm. We can't change that we're going to be in Woking for the weekend.
I've never been to Olympia but wanted to go since I was a kid, but living the wrong side of the country and being the only horsey one in a non horsey family it was never going to happen. For years now I've seen it on TV, thought I'd love to go but then forget to look out for tickets going on sale.
 
Jannyfox said:
TBH whatever we have to pay is immaterial - we just need to get there. Harrow is a bit of a camel trek from Woking and a bit of a convoluted tube journey as well. Slough is still looking the best bet atm. We can't change that we're going to be in Woking for the weekend.
I've never been to Olympia but wanted to go since I was a kid, but living the wrong side of the country and being the only horsey one in a non horsey family it was never going to happen. For years now I've seen it on TV, thought I'd love to go but then forget to look out for tickets going on sale.
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I mis-read tbh - I thought you were coming to Reading to get the train into Paddington which would be about the same drive to Harrow but then longer on the train. Slough makes much more sense. Have a great time :)
 
Parking restrictions in SW London do vary, Richmond/Kew could be your salvation - just look on the Richmond website to see where free on-street parking is - there is some and you can take the District Line train from Kew Gardens...I think a lot of people will be escaping London on Friday or Saturday before Christmas (like I am) so parking may become less of an issue late afternoon. Would avoid Kingston area as this is a major shopping area.

Bracknell/Slough and Ascot have been mentioned. Another alternative is Maidenhead, this will take you to Paddington or Ealing Broadway to connect with the Distrcit Line. GWR. I am surprised GWR serve Brackhell - thought it was only SouthWestern (I work there).

Enjoy the show.
 
Daysleeper40 said:
The only thing I would say about coming to Reading (I live here) is that the parking is very expensive - would you be better off driving to Harrow and getting the tube from there?
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Just Park is a great app.
You can secure a parking space and at least you avoid the anxiety of where to park.
 
I worked in the rail industry for 20+ years and I live in Maidenhead, so I have a reasonable grasp of the rail options available to you.

Jannyfox said:
Seems that everything south of the M4 is SWT............... Bracknell is another where it's SWT to Reading for the GWR to London.
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That's basically it. From Woking you have two options:

1. Drive north-ish to pick up the Great Western route somewhere (Reading, Twyford, Maidenhead, Slough).
2. Drive west-ish to somewhere on the GW Gatwick - Guildford - Reading route (eg Farnborough, Blackwater, Sandhurst, Crowthorne, Wokingham), and go via Reading.

Option 2 would be much slower by train - Reading to Guildford is rather slow - and the train tickets might be considerably more expensive. On the other hand parking at or near the station could be easier because these are all mostly SWT stations so they won't be very busy if SWT are on strike.

If you have any specific questions about the geography etc, I'm happy to help.
 
StewartR said:
I worked in the rail industry for 20+ years and I live in Maidenhead, so I have a reasonable grasp of the rail options available to you.



That's basically it. From Woking you have two options:

1. Drive north-ish to pick up the Great Western route somewhere (Reading, Twyford, Maidenhead, Slough).
2. Drive west-ish to somewhere on the GW Gatwick - Guildford - Reading route (eg Farnborough, Blackwater, Sandhurst, Crowthorne, Wokingham), and go via Reading.

Option 2 would be much slower by train - Reading to Guildford is rather slow - and the train tickets might be considerably more expensive. On the other hand parking at or near the station could be easier because these are all mostly SWT stations so they won't be very busy if SWT are on strike.

If you have any specific questions about the geography etc, I'm happy to help.
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Thanks Stewart. We've pretty much decided if we can't go direct from Woking we're going from Slough. It's closest to Woking where we're staying. I just have to recheck the last train but I think I've already looked and there's no problem getting out of Paddington late. The show finishes at 2230 but it's an easier tube ride back to Paddington than to Waterloo. We're going to walk to Olympia from High St Kensington as it's straight down Kensington High St, which is about the only area of London I know so I feel relatively safe there (I don't like big towns......). SWT have just (today) published their revised timetables for the day so I have to download the relevant ones and study them. We have plenty of flexibility on getting into London - it's getting back again I need to be sure of.
 
Might be worth checking on hotel availability as insurance against other transport problems.
 
I try to avoid going there (Lungdung!) if at all possible!!! :P

Have a great weekend, Jan.
 
Having looked at SWT revised timetable it seems we're going to be fine going from and to Woking. We might make the 2345 Portsmouth train back but there's 0005 and 0105 Weymouth trains. We can check for further changes up to the morning and if there are any problems it's Slough here we come. Never been to Slough. I suspect I haven't missed much (with apologies to anyone who lives there). Thanks everyone for the replies. They gave me a lot of pointers in the right direction.
 
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