Looking for somewhere near the train station

[Claire]

Hi everyone, my boyfriend and I will be moving to Reading from London in September. His work is going to be in Reading, and we think it would be better to relocate there to take advantage of the lower rent and greater access to the countryside etc. I will still be working in London, however, and commuting by train. My work would require me to be coming back to Reading quite late (11 PM to midnight), and so I am looking for some advice on how safe it would be for a lone female to be walking home at these times.

From reading this forum I've gathered that North of the river is generally a safe area, but am I right in thinking that the walk from the train station to there would be a bit scary at night? It seems that there wouldn't be much pedestrian traffic along there at night.

What about the Castle Street, King's Road area? I imagine it would be safer to walk here from the train station late at night because there are busy streets because of the pubs, etc and I believe that the city centre is generally safe.

Any advice on these places, or any others walking distance from the train station would be appreciated.

Claire

[Les]

Hello Claire and a very warm welcome to the Forum. I am sure that there will be plenty of advice coming your way from those better qulified than I to give that sort of advice.

[Chris]

Hello Claire, and welcome.

One major consideration - have you factored in the cost of commuting to London. I believe the annual season ticket is a fair bit above £3000!

Having lived north of the river and used the train a bit - I'd certainly advise caution about walking home at that time, as I would in any town! If using Reading Bridge (the eastern one), you must cross parkland to reach the residential areas, unless using George St. There have been isolated incidents in that area (muggings) late at night.

In my opinion using Caversham Bridge (the western one) would be safer. There are buses late at night, but they are not frequent. Taxis are of course an option, very easy to find around the station without waiting. The fare to lower Caversham is around a fiver, up to the Henley Road around £7-8.

[Down_in_Albion]

What type of property are you looking to rent. Terrace. Flat. Number of beds etc? And what are you looking for, quiet or ease of access or living space? Character or modern property? Certain areas in central reading provide better housing for specific requirements than others....

[OLDMAN]

One consideration depends on where in London you work

If you could use the Reading – Waterloo line ten you have the choice of not being in the town centre but could opt for Earley

Although not so frequent trains it’s a good run and you could use Earley station

It’s a nice – very safe – area and is an easy commute by car / bike or bus into the town centre

[Claire]

Thanks for the replies. I'm aware of the price of a season ticket, but the fact that my boyfriend wouldn't have to pay anything for transport, and that my journeytime to work would be shorter means that overall we'll actually be saving money on transport.

As for the type of property, the main criteria is proximity to the station. We'd prefer not to be in a modern block of flats (even worse would be an old block!) but not strictly opposed to the idea. Also looking to pay around £1000 a month.

Claire

[chris_j_wood]

Hi Claire, and welcome.

Building on Oldman's reply, you should not forget that there are several railway stations in suburban Reading (which expands a little beyond the borough boundary). Besides Earley on the Waterloo line that has already been suggested, there is also Reading West and Tilehurst, both of which have through trains to Paddington. I'm not too familiar with Tilehurst station's service or locality, but I'm sure somebody else can help there.

Reading West may be an option for you. It is reasonably near to the town centre, and has entrances at either end, to Oxford Road and Tilehurst Road respectively. The Oxford Road entrance takes you to a busy street, with side streets with Victorian terraced housing on them. The Tilehurst Road entrance is a bit lonely (I'd take a look at it before you decide) but gives access to an area with a lot of 1980s/90s flats, as well as some quite upmarket villa-style housing and a few streets of terraces.

There is one through high speed train to Paddington, at around 7:30, which gives you a reasonable chance of a seat (something you will struggle to get in commute periods from Reading mainline station) and runs non-stop from Reading. Otherwise there is a half-hourly or better local service; some trains may run through to Paddington or you may need to change at Reading. Depends when you inward commute is going to be, I guess.

If you feel that you want to go for the admittedly much more frequent service from Reading mainline, and given your late night journey time, I'd look at something in or around the town centre. Whilst it can (in places) be a bit rowdy, it is well lit and well policed. One possibility are the new flats at Chatham Place, which is a fairly straightforward 5-6 minute walk from the station. They were planned and built before the recession and I suspect you might be able to drive a decent bargain. The development isn't particularly to my tastes, but it is modern, well lit and well maintained (striking and modern is how the estate agents put it). See http://www.chathamplace.co.uk/.

[MarkLV]

Hello Claire, and welcome.

One major consideration - have you factored in the cost of commuting to London. I believe the annual season ticket is a fair bit above £3000!

Having lived north of the river and used the train a bit - I'd certainly advise caution about walking home at that time, as I would in any town! If using Reading Bridge (the eastern one), you must cross parkland to reach the residential areas, unless using George St. There have been isolated incidents in that area (muggings) late at night.

In my opinion using Caversham Bridge (the western one) would be safer. There are buses late at night, but they are not frequent. Taxis are of course an option, very easy to find around the station without waiting. The fare to lower Caversham is around a fiver, up to the Henley Road around £7-8.

The annual season ticket (including tube) between Reading and London is £4,030. Not cheap but Hobson's Choice for many of us.

I live in Brigham Road (the one beside the Ericsson building, going towards the river) and it's only 7-8 minutes walk from the station. There are some upmarket blocks of flats there and normally there are usually a few available for rent at any one time. As it's a cul-de-sac it's relatively quiet though you do get the odd group of drinkers walking back from town - but you'll get this anywhere. There are some terraced houses as well but they rarely come up for sale or rent.