Written August 2026
The last hour of a drive into a big city is the worst one. The motorway turns into queues, the parking costs more than the petrol, and in London there are charges waiting just for showing up in a car. So plenty of people quietly do the sensible thing instead: drive the easy miles, then let a train do the hard ones.
Ask the internet where to make the swap, though, and you mostly find decade-old forum threads. Here is the way to think about it.
You want three things. Trains that are fast and frequent enough that you never plan around them. A station that sits close to your route, because a switch that adds half an hour of lanes defeats the point. And a sensible fare, which is less obvious than it sounds, because the next station along can be dramatically cheaper.
If you are driving yourself, you will pay to park, so weigh that against what the shorter train fare saves. But if someone else is doing the driving, you do not need parking at all. You need a drop-off, which is free at nearly every station, takes two minutes, and lets the driver carry on with their day. That version is what Partway is built for. The free iPhone app checks every station along the drive, prices the trains from each one, and counts the driver's detour too, so nobody's favour gets abused.
The swap saves money far more reliably than it saves time. Trains out of towns an hour from the city are quick, but so is an empty motorway at six in the morning. Do it for the fare, the nerves and the parking, and treat any minutes you win as a bonus.
Next time there is a lift going partway, get Partway on the App Store and see where the car should stop. Free, no sign-up, UK trains.