London commute from West (M4)

How near to J11 do you live? Saying that to get to Reading station would take you 40 minutes indicates you live pretty far from it. Or that traffic is horrendous. You might consider a bicycle or a motor scooter to get you from home to the station.
 
40 minutes for park and ride is probably about right, but that said if you were driving the journey in rush hour its can easily take that long or even longer.

Not sure about cost impact, but if you are south of M4, you might also want to look at going to Mortimer and training into reading
 
Reading rush hour traffic IS horrendous!! OP lives like 10mins away in normal traffic.
Sorry, parking not free; was thinking more of walking/biking if it was close enough. Apologies!
Shame Green Park station is still at a standstill waiting to be actually built!!!
 
Get a bicycle and you can get to Reading station in 20 minutes surely from Three Mile Cross? Less cost and you'll enjoy the health benefits. Also a great de-stress on the way home after a hard day and rubbish commute (which will happen often).

As others have mentioned, the happiest people I know from your neck of the woods ride a motorbike all the way in. Master of your own destiny that way with a consistent journey time.
 
CSMonkeh said:
Where exactly do you live? Used to live just outside Reading myself for many years. I ask because if you live near Mortimer you can train it from there to Reading (2 stops). Maybe save on the parking?
As above Oyster card would be good.
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How is parking at Mortimer? Difficult to get a space?

Thanks
 
If you need to be in London and live near Reading then consider Twyford. The parking there is cheaper than Reading and your ticket will be cheaper too. At 6:30 ish in the morning the train takes 32 minutes to Paddington.
 
Reading to oxford circus is under 1hr. I've done it before - it's not too bad a journey really. But adding a 40min drive is a bit tough. I don't know if I'd want to do it regularly, but I've done worse commutes. I'd get a season ticket if it avoided driving - is there no other train near you?
 
Freefaller said:
Reading to oxford circus is under 1hr. I've done it before - it's not too bad a journey really. But adding a 40min drive is a bit tough. I don't know if I'd want to do it regularly, but I've done worse commutes. I'd get a season ticket if it avoided driving - is there no other train near you?
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Yes, Mortimer is a 10 min drive. The trains are quite easy then to Reading or even better, Reading West so I can get a seat before everyone jumps on. The only problem with the Reading West train is it is earlier than I would have liked.
 
A bit early is better than no seats IMO :)

Also means you don't have to rush when you get into town, or potentially leave earlier if you're there early. Or grab a coffee and just start your day more gently.

Less stressful than driving 40 mins every morning IMO.
 
Why would anyone want to live or work (via commute) in London? Horrible place :)

When you say it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, I'd hope the pay is astronomical to make up for the hassle of the commute etc?
 
Rilot's suggestion is a good one. I also live in Three Mile Cross and moved there from Twyford, if you don't mind a 10 minute walk there are plenty of places in Twyford you could park for the day for free (head down towards Hurst and pick one of the side roads/estates - but I didn't tell you this...).

Twyfords trains are usually pretty direct into London, only stopping at Maidenhead/Slough, it's a very popular area due to this commute.
 
squerble said:
Why would anyone want to live or work (via commute) in London? Horrible place :)

When you say it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, I'd hope the pay is astronomical to make up for the hassle of the commute etc?
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That's part of the thing stopping me from accepting at the minute - while the job is with a great employer, the hours will be longer and the net additional cash when you factor in commuting costs is nil.

My option is basically stay working where I'm not motivated but finish at 5.30pm Mon/Thurs, 4pm Friday or leave 50 minutes earlier in the morning and get home an hour 30 mins later but hopefully enjoy the job.
 
BigT said:
Get a bicycle and you can get to Reading station in 20 minutes surely from Three Mile Cross?
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Or use the new Park-N-Ride thing at Mereoak Lane.

BigT said:
As others have mentioned, the happiest people I know from your neck of the woods ride a motorbike all the way in. Master of your own destiny that way with a consistent journey time.
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^Yup - Bike!!

Kemik said:
while the job is with a great employer, the hours will be longer and the net additional cash when you factor in commuting costs is nil.
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Have to be a very great employer with serious opportunities for progression.
I refuse to commute any real distance any more, as it's just not worth it - I work to live, not the other way around.
 
Id guess this is also relatively short term too, with the green park station going in next year supposedly, you could walk over. Seriously though, look into Twyford. It's a 15-20 minute drive so wouldn't be a huge difference to driving to Mortimer, but would probably cut your commute in half.
 
Jano said:
Id guess this is also relatively short term too, with the green park station going in next year supposedly, you could walk over. Seriously though, look into Twyford. It's a 15-20 minute drive so wouldn't be a huge difference to driving to Mortimer, but would probably cut your commute in half.
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I wish it did :(

Home 07:33 - 07:43 Mortimer (10 mins)
Mortimer 07:48 - 08:00 Reading
Reading 08:10 - 08:38 Paddington
Total: 1hr 5 mins

Home 06:51 - 07:16 Twyford (25 mins)
Twyford 07:21 - 07:55 Paddington
Total: 1hr 4 mins

At the minute, I'm leaning towards the "reject the role" on the basis that I don't really earn any additional cash after you take off the commute. As great as the role would be for my career, I don't think not doing it would prevent me from getting any other roles. I wouldn't be staying at the role for more than 18 months due to the commute and have zero interest in moving to London due to the home I own in Reading.
 
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