The food and drink symbol on the orientation plaque, made redundant by closure of the Queens Arms pub, now has new salience with the opening on the old pub site of a spanking new Tesco Express store. Food and drink are now available to passengers from 7am to 11pm, seven days a week.

Although they were not opened formally until 26 September 2016, on 8 September 2017 the lifts at Goring and Streatley will have been available for public use for one year. Initially the lifts were under local control only when the station was staffed. Then local control was extended to every day from 6am to 5.30pm. Since the formal opening they have been open under passenger control from 6am to 10.30pm, with remote monitoring and control between 10.30pm and 6am. In practice the remote control system is so cumbersome that passengers do not use it.

At the risk of tempting fate I am pleased to report that there has been no known incident since a brief entrapment of a passenger during the two week "teething" period before the official opening. This experience is in stark contrast to some of the pessimistic predictions posted on this Forum in advance of (a) the decision to instal lifts and (b) their opening a year ago.

We hope that our representations to Network Rail and the Oxfordshire highways to widen the pavement in Wallingford Road, alongside the station will have an equally positive outcome.

We are very grateful to Network Rail and Great Western Railway, and to their contractors, especially Murphy Group, for their constructive approach to all our representations during the works at Goring and Streatley station, even when they have not been able to grant all our wishes. We are also grateful to our MP^▸ (Member of Parliament), John Howell for his support.

John Boler, Chairman, Mobility Issues Group for Goring and Streatley

The footbridge spans were installed on Saturday night/Sunday morning, 2/3 April after an unsuccessful attempt to instal the span over the relief lines early on the morning of Easter day.

Work began on Saturday night, 13 February, on erection of the new footbridge at Goring and Streatley station. Work is expected to continue at weekends until early March. Completed so far are the intermediate staircase supports on all three platforms. Installation of lifts is integral to bridge construction and lifts are expected to be installed and operational "by the summer", according to Network Rail. The lifts are part of a comprehensive programme of accessibility improvements by NR^» (Network Rail - home page) and GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), including a fully accessible toilet and, most recently, multi-level counter at the booking office window for the benefit of wheelchair users. The Mobility Issues Group for Goring and Streatley has been awarded a grant by GWR to commission a consultancy report into the options for widening the pavement approach to the station. The consultancy will be set up jointly with Goring-on-Thames parish council. The photos show the scene at the station as dawn broke on the morning of Valentine's day and, later in the day, the staircase structures (finished in the new GWR green) in a support role as steam enthusiast awaited the passage of Tornado on its journey to Worcester.

The first section of deck was lifted off around mid-day after preparations that began at 4am.

Take the train to Goring & Streatley to have access to our attractive twin villages and enjoy the surrounding Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Goring bridge is where the Thames and Ridgeway long distance paths intersect. Find your way using the orientation plaque at the station.

What better way to end the summer holidays than with a celebration of the extensive culinary canvas that we are so lucky to have in Goring & Streatley and our surrounding areas. You only pay for what you consume. See the station redevelopment on your way there. http://www.goringstreatleyfoodfest.co.uk/

On 12 March John Howell MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) unveiled an orientation plaque at Goring and Streatley station. The plaque is intended primarily to help long distance walkers and other pedestrians arriving at the station, many of whom use Goring and Streatley as the railhead for exploring the Thames Path and Ridgeway national trails and the Chilterns and North Wessex Downs areas of outstanding natural beauty, all of which meet at Goring river bridge. The picture shows Dave Martin (right) accepting the plaque on behalf of First Great Western from John Howell, MP for Henley.

Goring and Streatley station now has a fully accessible toilet. The new toilet, along with fully modernised ladies^ and gents^ toilets, was formally opened for use on 12 March by John Howell, MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Henley. The ^disabled^ toilet is the first of a number of accessibility improvements planned by First Great Western and Network Rail, the most important of which is passenger lifts, to be integrated into a new footbridge, due for completion in the summer of 2015. The latest forecast is that the lifts will be completed by late summer or early autumn. The accessible toilet is fitted with a ^Radar^ lock that can be opened by any disabled traveller in possession of a Radar key.

No need for concern about copyright. Ultimate sources of information: Network Rail and FGW^▸ (First Great Western).

Access improvement works begin at Goring and Streatley station

Work has begun at Goring and Streatley station that will culminate in the construction of a permanent new footbridge with passenger lifts at all three platforms plus an accessible (disabled) toilet and various other improvements designed to help mobility impaired passengers.
The target date for completion of the main works is June 2015, following which (according to First Great Western) the line between Tilehurst and Didcot will be ^energised^ for the testing and the training purposes. Evidently, this will be the first section of the Great Western electrified network to go live.
   Contractors have already set up a construction compound in the station car park: this will reduce the number of parking spaces available until works are completed. However, one of the options still being considered by First Great Western is an extension of the car park into the old coal yard after electrification.
   The first stage of the works, well under way, is clearing shrubs and undergrowth from platform 1, the west side of the line. This is to make way for realignment of the footpath along the platform between Station Road and Holmlea Road. It will enable the platform to be re-surfaced and its level raised so that six coach trains can stop at platform 1 safely when the relief lines are out of use ^frequently^ between December this year and April 2015. FGW^▸ (First Great Western) says there will be no interruption of train services.
   Next, a temporary footbridge will be erected opposite Station Road and Reading Road, although access on the eastern side will continue to be via the booking office entrance. Stairs on the western side will be immediately facing Station Road. The temporary bridge is due to be open from January 2015. The existing footbridge is due to be demolished in February; the new, permanent footbridge installed by the end of April and the temporary bridge removed by the end of June. 
   The permanent footbridge will be near the Reading end of the platforms, with the bridge deck between platforms 1 and 2 skewed towards Station Road. To make space for the staircase on the island platform the disused building at the Reading end will be demolished. Also, in place of the existing staircase on platform 4 (the booking office side) the platform canopy will be restored to match the existing style.
   With passenger lifts now certain to be installed, the main obstacle to disabled access to trains at Goring and Streatley is the narrow and overgrown pavement alongside the railway line in Wallingford Road. This path was upgraded and new crash barriers installed at the High Street end in 2006. A similar upgrade was carried out opposite Reading Road in 2012 but the 60m stretch in between has remained more or less as it was when the path was declared a public highway by the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) nearly 90 years ago. The barrier and fence are actually supported on sections of railway track salvaged from Brunel^s broad gauge line, lifted in 1892! The Mobility Issues Group for Goring and Streatley (Miggs) is leading a community partnership scheme to plan an upgrade of the remaining pavement and secure funding for it.

Mysteriously, the Tilehurst station footbridge planning application has disappeared from the Reading Borough Council planning website.

Work is under way to build a new footbridge at Tilehurst station, as part of the Great Western track electrification programme. You can see the approved plans here: http://planninghome.reading.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=MHCEGIMS01X00. The design includes "passive" provision for later addition of passenger lifts. MIGGS (Mobility Issues Group for Goring and Streatley) is campaigning to have lifts added at the same time that the footbridge is rebuilt at Goring and Streatley station, also a part of the electrification programme. You can follow MIGGS on facebook, at: https://www.facebook.com/MobilityIssuesGroupForGoringAndStreatley?ref=stream.

See "Accessible train station design for disabled people: a code of practice", published by the Department for Transport", November 2011 edition, at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/3191/accessible-train-station-design-cop.pdf. This implies that an acceptable standard for the availability of assistance in the event of emergency is two hours. This is well within the capability of a technician based at either Reading or Didcot, both of which are staffed 24 hours a day.

The Mobility Issues Group for Goring and Streatley (MIGGS) has been making representations to all who will listen, but especially FGW^▸ (First Great Western), Network Rail and the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) to instal lifts when the footbridge is rebuilt at Goring and Streatley station as part of the electrification programme. The latest salvo was fired in the House of Commons on 24 April 2013 when Henley MP^▸ (Member of Parliament), John Howell presented a petition collected by MIGGS.You can view the actualit^ here:

http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=12999&st=18:01:33.0770000

It begins at 6:28:09