Great Western Coffee Shop

Haven't SSP got first refusals on any NR-run station?

A cash machine would be useful, either in the North Terminal booking hall or on the deck itself.

...

Do the retail outlets get their own bucket and mop as part of the lease...? 8)

As far as I can tell, only one of the six mentioned is currently an SSP brand/franchise (Upper Crust). Possibly two if The Cornish Pasty Co is actually 'The Pasty Shop'.

Of course SSP could become the franchisees for the other units. Although I'm not sure that Boots, Cards Galore or Oliver Bonas offer franchises.

Bristol, Reading may join Network Rail station portfolio

(http://www.railnews.co.uk/img/medium/260x186xnews01776.jpg.pagespeed.ic.XG52MtOGV_.jpg)
So far it's only Starbucks, but more retailers are set to open on the new overbridge at Reading in the spring

Plans to transfer the management of Reading and Bristol Temple Meads stations from First Great Western to Network Rail are being developed, but no decisions have yet been made.

Network Rail has moved to deny reports that the deal is already done, but even so it has taken over the letting of retail units at Reading, which is being modernised and enlarged by the addition of five more platforms. The company is letting the space because it says there is an 'aspiration' at the Department for Transport for both Reading and Bristol Temple Meads to become Network Rail-managed stations from next April.

A major overbridge with room for retail space was opened at Reading earlier this year as one phase of the station's development was completed, and all the signs at the modernised station already follow the standard Network Rail style.

Network Rail said that Hotel Chocolat, Boots, The Cornish Pasty Co, Upper Crust, Cards Galore and Oliver Bonas 'are all primed to start work on units in the newly constructed part of the station'. The new retailers will join a small Starbucks unit which has been on the overbridge since it opened in April this year.

Hamish Kiernan, Network Rail^s interim commercial director, said: "Reading station is bigger and better than ever, but we know passengers want more retail choices in the new part of the station. We are pleased to be able to announce that the new stores will be ready to welcome customers from April 2014."

Retail sales in Network Rail stations have continued to defy trends in the high street. The company said in September there was 6.4 per cent growth in like-for-like sales from April to June 2013, while high street sales for the same period were just 0.4 per cent.

The work at Reading should be complete by 2015, when a 2km flyover will be opened west of the station to reduce conflicting movements on the Great Western Main Line.

Network Rail inherited the management of a number of major stations from Railtrack in 2001-2. Stations like London Euston, Leeds, Manchester Piccadilly and Glasgow Central were never managed by franchises because at privatisation it was envisaged that stations like these would be sold and become independent, like airports. However, the plans for the creation of 'independent station operators' were later dropped.

Transfer of Reading and Bristol Temple Meads to Network Rail

Dear colleagues,
One of the commitments made at the start of new franchise in October was to transfer formal ownership of Reading and Bristol Temple Meads stations from First Great Western to Network Rail.

We have reached agreement on how this will work, and Network Rail will assume responsibility for the overall management of Bristol Temple Meads and Reading stations from 0200 on Tuesday 1 April. 

Network Rail's focus will be on facilities management, third-party retail, maintenance and cleaning. First Great Western and our station teams will remain responsible for all customer-facing activity ^ including dispatch, gateline and ticket office sales ^ just as we do today. 

The changes are designed to streamline upcoming improvement projects and the management and development of third-party retail outlets, while allowing First Great Western to concentrate our efforts on our core business ^ looking after the needs of our customers.

We are pleased we have been able to make such quick progress with Network Rail to agree how these stations will be managed in future. We look forward to working with their station teams on a day-to-day basis to deliver the best possible customer experience.

Mark Hopwood
Managing Director

Could we have the source for the quoted text please. There have, to my knowledge, been no public announcements regarding the handover. Network Rail, as yet, have not updated their website.

Dear colleagues,
One of the commitments made at the start of new franchise in October was to transfer formal ownership of Reading and Bristol Temple Meads stations from First Great Western to Network Rail.

Does this mean that lost property handed in at Bristol and Reading will get sent to Paddington, and will lost property handed in over the rest of the GW network still get sent to Bristol?

Lost Property is remaining in-house with FGW and will continue to be situated at Temple Meads.

Isn't it about time someone came up with a new internal station plan for Reading to put on the National Rail site?

This is a regular criticism of the National Rail site - nearly all recently altered stations are not being updated.   I suspect the contractor who did all the original "Stations made easy" drawings was never given a retainer to deal with maintenance and updates.   

I've also seen criticism that the photos showing access routes etc, mainly provided for those with mobility issues, have no update procedure either...

CURRENT SITUATION & OUTLOOK

The Stations Made Easy pages are updated on a regular basis to ensure all accessibility-related information is up to date. The online information is much more detailed than anything that existed previously. In order to ensure regular updates and the interactive engagement of disabled passengers, ATOC is currently exploring whether the implementation of a community-based comment and recommendation facility can be developed for each individual station. The set-up of such an interactive community tool would be a starting point for a social media travel network for railway passengers with disabilities in the United Kingdom.

There's a contact named, to whom I have sent a mildly sarcastic e-mail.

They'll probably turn it off rather than admit they're wrong then?

Paul

Three areas not mentioned are security, customer assistance and the station control room operation. All are run by NR at Padd. At Reading, security is outsourced (like cleaning), so could easily be transferred. Customer care and the station control room staff are all FGW staff so will presumably stay with FGW?

Looks like NR have some work to do on their website, at least as far as Reading is concerned. References to toilets in the subway and the "advanced travel sales office" suggest this info was taken off a very old data sheet/web site. Funny though how it is mixed in with references to the new platforms!

Must try harder!

Good one, Network Rail!  ;) :D ;D

Well, fancy this! If you go to this page of the Zero Project web site (http://zeroproject.org/practice/web-based-tool-to-plan-access-to-railway-stations/) you will find that ATOC put ^Stations Made Easy" in for an award this year. At the Zero Project Conference 2014 in Vienna in February, it was selected as one of 54 "Innovative Practices on Accessibility".

ATOC's submission says, inter alia, this:

There's a contact named, to whom I have sent a mildly sarcastic e-mail.

Thank you for your e-mail.

There are regular updates of the Stations Made Easy pages. Each year between 150-200 re-audits are undertaken.

There is some additional work currently taking place at Reading station but this is due for a re-audit shortly.

Best wishes


David Sindall
Head of Disability & Inclusion|Association of Train Operating Companies

Dear Mr. Sindall

Thank you for that prompt reply.

I suspect that the minor revisions that are being made are all but invisible to users, while major changes, if not reflected in the map for more than a few weeks, are very obvious. That's unavoidable, and if you see it as a problem perhaps you should address it.

While new pictures may have to wait for a new site visit, the new layout of an upgraded station such as Reading has been known for years - perhaps since the start of Stations Made Easy.  While a lot of work has been done at Reading since the new parts were opened last Easter, this has had almost no  impact on the layout for passengers. Essentially, various platforms have been closed at different times, that is all. So in that sense there is no excuse for any delay at all: the new layout could have gone on-line last Easter. If the layout is entirely new, there is no point in keeping the out-of-date pictures, is there?

Still, I am glad to hear that this will be addressed soon.

Yours truly

If you have typeface nerdish tendencies like me, then more about Network Rail's 'NR Brunel' can be read here (https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/137521/response/332469/attach/2/L2%20Signage%20Managed%20Station%20Guidelines.pdf#page=20). (.pdf download)