Raynes Park takes its name from Edward Rayne, the landowner who sold his farm to the railway in the nineteenth century, and the station still sits at the heart of the area, where the lines from Waterloo split for Epsom and Dorking. Around it are streets of Edwardian and 1930s houses full of families, several big schools and some of the largest playing fields in south-west London. Minibus hire Raynes Park customers book is mostly family runs to Heathrow, school sport and fixtures, Wimbledon fortnight and family events.
Raynes Park sits in the west of Merton, between Wimbledon, New Malden, Motspur Park and West Barnes, with Coombe Lane running through it and the A3 a few minutes west. From our base in SE1, it's about forty to fifty minutes outside the rush hour, through Clapham and Wimbledon or along the A3.
Minibus hire Raynes Park for Heathrow runs
Heathrow is about thirty to forty minutes from Raynes Park outside the rush hour, via the A3 and the M25 or through Kingston and the A316 and the M3. For families heading on holiday with children, grandparents and a lot of luggage, a minibus from the door is quicker and easier than the train to Clapham Junction and a change.
Tell us the flight time and terminal and we'll work back to a departure time, padded for the morning queue at the Coombe Lane junction. For the return, the driver will track the flight and be at arrivals when you land. Gatwick is about forty-five minutes, via the A217 and the M25, and Luton and Stansted are both more than an hour and a quarter.
Minibus hire Raynes Park families book for a summer holiday often includes the return leg, booked together.
Fixtures for Raynes Park schools
Raynes Park High School, Ricards Lodge and Rutlish in Merton Park, and the independent schools of Wimbledon and New Malden have busy sports calendars, and many London schools play their fixtures on the playing fields around Raynes Park and Motspur Park. Players, bags and the PE teacher go out together, and the minibus is there for the trip home once play ends.
For a term of fixtures, the dates and venues can be booked together. Schools also book us for museum trips, swimming and residential trips. The South Kensington museums are about forty-five minutes away.
Playing fields and clubs
Prince George's Playing Fields, the sports grounds along the Kingston Road and West Barnes Lane, and the grounds of banks, schools and clubs around Motspur Park host football, rugby, hockey and cricket every weekend. Fulham FC's training ground is at Motspur Park. Junior clubs, Sunday league teams and school sides book us for fixtures and tournaments there and across south-west London.
For a junior club with several age groups on the same morning, we'll stagger the runs so each team arrives in time. Cricket clubs book us for away matches on summer Saturdays, when a full eleven plus scorer and kit bags fit one vehicle, and the return is timed for after tea in the pavilion.
Wimbledon fortnight and family events
Wimbledon is ten minutes away, and during the Championships, families with tickets and groups who've queued book us to get to the tennis and home. We'll check the traffic plan for the year and agree the drop-off and the return. Our Wimbledon page has more.
Families book us for weddings, christenings and birthdays, with guests collected from homes across Raynes Park, West Barnes and Cottenham Park and taken to venues across Merton, Kingston and Surrey. Holy Cross at Motspur Park and St Saviour's on Grand Drive host christenings most months, and the parties afterwards often move to a restaurant in Wimbledon Village or a function room at one of the sports clubs, with the minibus covering both legs and the late run home.
Days out to the south-west
Raynes Park's position on the A3 makes days out to the south-west quick. Chessington World of Adventures is about twenty minutes away, Thorpe Park about thirty-five, Legoland Windsor about forty-five and RHS Wisley about twenty-five. Birthday parties, scout groups and church groups book us for days like these, with the return timed for the end of the rides.
Coombe Lane and the level crossing
Coombe Lane, the A238, runs through Raynes Park towards the A3 and Kingston, and it's busy with buses at peak times. The railway splits the area, and the low bridges and the level crossing on West Barnes Lane at Motspur Park can hold up traffic when trains pass. The A3 junction at Coombe Lane is slow in the morning and evening. Pickups happen at the school, the club or a side street off Coombe Lane, and for early flights we'll allow time for the A3.
For minibus hire in Raynes Park, call 020 7183 0567.