Apart from suggesting the obvious route on Christmas Eve (Tube to Waterloo, SWR» to Reading, taking almost 120 minutes), the National Rail website lists this alternative, taking as long:
Tube to Marylebone; Chiltern Trains to High Wycombe; bus to Maidenhead; GWR▸ to Reading, taking 120 minutes.
Wonder how many people will turn up at Paddington expecting to be in Reading within 30 minutes and be really upset at the delay?
For people wanting to get to Slough, the suggested journey is bizarre, in that the National Rail website says "TRANSFER" from Paddington to Hillingdon Tube Station, allowing an hour. It doesn't specify how this transfer is to be made, and there's just a cyclist icon under "Additional Information". I suppose that the inference is don't start your journey at Paddington but work out how best to get to Hillingdon. Then one takes a bus to Slough. But if one has cycled to Hillingdon, what does one do with one's bike?
Or am I missing something?
Marlburian
The transfer to Hillingdon will be a rail replacement bus from Slough. The image below is from the last page of the
December West of London Crossrail newsletter.Having planned journeys on the National Rail Enquiries site in the past, I agree it is very vague when transferring between central London stations. It will say to get on the underground but not which line or where to change to another tube.