Trains to Reading

"Reading is often called a city of parks. There are over a hundred of them in a miniature town. Each park has its own characteristics.” OrangeSmile

Tip 1: Booking ahead of time will get you cheaper fares
If you know ahead of time when you will be travelling by train to Reading and book early you will find that tickets are cheaper. Advance tickets are released by the train operating companies up to 12 weeks ahead of your journey and the quicker you buy them the better as they can often be sold out quickly due to high demand. If you aren't able to plan ahead it is possible to buy advance tickets up to 1hr before you catch the train to your destination if tickets are still available but try not to leave it too late or you may miss out.

Reading is a historic town in the county of Berkshire in southern England, situated 38 miles west of London. The minster town serves as an important junction for railways running from West London and the South Midlands.

Tip 2: Booking fees can be avoided
Often train tickets can be raised in price by the addition of a booking fees, which most retail companies add, for every journey and a charge if you use a credit card. At Split My Fare we don't add any of these charges to your fare, we only take 10% of any saving we make for you by splitting you tickets if we don't split we won't charge making us a good option. We are a National Rail Accredited Retailer and so you can be confident when you book our tickets with us.

Tip 3: Use Delay Repay and get a refund
Obviously you want to arrive at Reading train station on time but if unfortunately there is a delay which means you are late make sure you claim a refund. You can use the Delay Repay scheme to get compensation of a full or partial refund depending on which network you have made your journey on. It is always best to check the policy of the train operating company to check what refund you are eligible for and then apply through them.

Being at the heart of a beautiful area of the Thames Valley, Reading sits where the Thames and Kennet rivers meet amid rolling hills, cosy pubs and cottages, all surrounded by a number of small, historic towns and villages including Pangbourne and Streatley, with many of them now being part of Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Tip 4: Avoid the more popular station to save money when travelling to Reading
One sure way of saving money on train tickets is to choose to travel on a less popular route to a quieter train station. It helps if you can avoid the main city centre station destination as those tickets are not the most reasonably priced and although it may be the most convenient you may think it worth the little extra effort to save money. It also helps to avoid weekends, holidays and peak times as tickets are priced on demand.

Tip 5: Group travel can be cheaper
If you are travelling with a group of friends or work colleagues on the same train book your tickets together. Yes, you can make savings if between 3-9 people book and travel together getting a groupsave discount as long as you travel off-peak. This means that you can get up to 1/3 off the price of your train tickets to Reading. The use of Mobile E-Tickets means that you can forward the tickets to your group members instead of having to use lots of paper tickets especially if you make use of our split ticketing.

The Forbury Gardens in the city centre have recently regained their old Victorian lustre having undergone major restorations. If you happen to visit the adjoining ruins, you'll discover that they are the remains of what once was an influential and powerful Abbey before it was ransacked by Henry VII.

Tip 6: Look at single and return tickets to Reading
Visiting Reading by train will normally mean you want to book a return train journey but a return ticket is not necessarily the cheapest way to choose. You may find that to pay for two single tickets or to book a flexible open return will work out at a more reasonable price. Split My Fare will sell you whichever is the best combination available which works out at the lowest price.

Tip 7: Look at using slower trains
The duration of your journey may not be an important factor for you to consider when travelling and you may be able to buy cheap train tickets to Reading by taking a slower train. If less direct trains is the cheapest option we will automatically show you that they are best. Time may be important to you and if you are in a rush you can choose to see only the fastest available trains which will get you there in the fastest time.

Recently, the town gained more attention due to the local football team's stint in the Premier League, although it has now returned to the second tier. The club has a major benefactor in Sir John Madejski, who was behind the stadium that was built in the south end of the town. Aside from the stadium, there has been a considerable amount of investment in that area of the town, where you can now see business parks, commercial properties and new housing developments as well as shopping centres.

Tip 8: First class can be cheaper than you think
If you want a bit of luxury by having more room, free tea and coffee and having food available it is sometimes not as costly as you think. If the demand for first class fares are low the prices are often reduced making them comparable with or even cheaper than standard fares.

Tip 9: If you are a regular traveller purchase a railcard
Another great way of saving money is to purchase a railcard especially if you are a regular rail traveller. They can make savings for you of up to 1/3 for a reasonable price of £30 a year. There are different types of cards to suit different people.

The Two Together which allows two adults to save on most journeys is £30 per year .

The Family Friends card gives a saving of 60% for children and up to a 1/3 on adults for up to 4 adults and 4 children.

The Senior Persons Railcard which is for over 60year olds is only £70 for three years instead of renewing your card annually.

Disabled passengers are able to have a discount with a Disabled Persons Railcard where on most journey they save 1/3 off the price.

There are other types of passengers railcards including a discount card for 16-25 yr olds plus a travel discount card for 26-30 yr olds and a Network Railcard to use on most trains.

Check out the Railcard site for more information or buy them from your local station.

Reading is one of the UK's main railway interchanges and as such is being served by inter-city and regional train services which runs across many locations in the country, such as London, Manchester, Cardiff and lots more. If you're coming from London, you should be able to catch the train from Paddington station and take one of the inter-city trains that stop first in Reading. They run several times an hour and take approximately ten minutes. A train service also runs twice an hour from London Waterloo. Taking this route will take an hour and 25 minutes and is therefore only advisable for those travelling from South West London.

Tip 10: Flexibility can get you cheaper train tickets
Being flexible in you planning can be key in saving money on your travel journey and cheap train tickets to Reading can be bought by being willing to change your date and times . Our journey planner will help you find the cheapest options to your destination making you great financial benefits.