Improvements at three Berkshire stations

[whole diary]

[eightonedee]

The scheme now has planning permission -see- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-55664318

[Marlburian]

Work on Reading West Station due to start next/this week.

My search for this link also produced this

Flasher at Reading West

(I may be mistaken, but when half-listening the TV news I've twice thought that the newsreader has referred to the improvements being at "Reading Railway Station" (and it wasn't "a Reading railway station").

[CyclingSid]

Terrible as it may sound, at Reading West, a flasher is probably better than a jumper.

[Marlburian]

I walked past the Reading West works this morning at 0845. Temporary traffic lights, a lane closure and a certain amount of chaos, with the drivers of a couple of vehicles emerging from Salisbury Road being confused and getting honked at. The northerly pavement under the bridge was closed and I dutifully crossed over to the southerly one and walked towards the town centre, only to encounter a "pavement closed" sign after 200 yards. I was heading for a basement key-cutters 50 yards further on, so kept on, as did other walkers.

Outside the shop a couple of guys were laying paving stones, with a barrier across the steps leading down to the key-cutters, which they moved for me.

As a cyclist I disliked Oxford Road between Norcot Roundabout and Chatham Street, nowadays as a motorist I still do, and I try to avoid walking along it because of cyclists and, recently, e-scooterists. In fact I had walked down Portman Road to avoid it. Returning with my new keys, I took to the side streets, emerging near Brock Barracks at 1000. To my amazement Oxford Road was empty of traffic; no doubt westerly-bound traffic was held at the Reading West works and perhaps easterly traffic was finding another route.

BTW^▸ (by the way) there was no admittance to the key-cutters', conversations taking place through a locked grilled door with a perspex screen attached to it. The young man explained that he'd only been single-jabbed.

[RichT54]

I was in Reading this morning so had a stroll along Oxford Road to see if there was any progress on the works at Reading West station. No work has started on the new station building yet, just some preparatory work to narrow the road from the south side, as shown in the attached photos. I didn't go onto the station, so I don't know if anything has been happening at platform level.

[RichT54]

I went to Reading by train today, for the first time since March 2020. I thought I would have another wander down Oxford Road and marvel at the amazing progress that was sure to have been made on the refurbishment of Reading West station.

Only to find a scene of desolation. The hole in the road is a bit bigger, but has been slowly filling with litter and other items. No sign of them starting work on the new building. In fact, no sign of any current activity.

[Hal]

Work seems to have finally started on the Reading West station rebuild.
I was down the Oxford Road today, and there is a big new barrier surrounding the site and narrowing the road. There are pedestrian crossings controlled by traffic lights.

Sorry, no pix - I was driving. 

[stuving]

I'm sure there were more recent posts about Reading West's new building, but can't find any. So here it is - RBC^‡(resolve) are now saying that this new station will open real soon now, just as soon as they can finish waterproofing the paperwork. That's on top of the Tilehurst lifts, also announced at the start of this thread.  From the Reading Chronicle:

Meanwhile, we are waiting for Network Rail to receive official approval to go ahead and open the new station building at Reading West.

The smart new building on Oxford Road contains a ticket office, toilets, and retail space. The project has also delivered new ticket gates, improved lighting, and CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) cameras to significantly improve safety and security.

Unfortunately, the project has not included the installation of passenger lifts, which has been a long-term ambition of the Council.

Network Rail tells us that the installation of lifts at Reading West would involve rebuilding the train platforms which currently makes the work prohibitively costly for them.

However, the latest station upgrade has been ‘future proofed’ for the installation of lifts in the future, and we will continue to lobby government, our local MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament), and Network Rail for funding to deliver new platforms and lifts to make Reading West station accessible to all as soon as possible.

[stuving]

I'm sure there were more recent posts about Reading West's new building, but can't find any. So here it is - RBC^‡(resolve) are now saying that this new station will open real soon now, just as soon as they can finish waterproofing the paperwork. That's on top of the Tilehurst lifts, also announced at the start of this thread. 

And it's going to be opening next Tuesday - here's the announcement from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - especially for anyone who feels they count as "media":

Media invite: New Reading West station building will open for customers on Tuesday 19 March

The new station building and ticket office were built in partnership with Reading Borough Council, the Department for Transport, Network Rail and Thames Valley Berkshire Enterprise Partnership.

Where: Reading West Station
When: 1015, Tuesday 19 March

There will be an official opening by Mayor of Reading Cllr Tony Page on Tuesday 19 March at 1030.The station will then open for customers immediately after the event.

As well as short speeches, there will be an opportunity for tours, including a look behind the scenes.

The transformation of the station in Oxford Road includes new ticket gates, new lighting and CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) cameras to significantly improve safety and security of the local community and travelling public.

Reading Borough Council has worked with Network Rail and Great Western Railways to deliver the project.

The new station building on Oxford Road is the centrepiece of the Reading West station upgrade, containing an information counter, a customer toilet and retail space.

New ticket gates have also been installed at the Oxford Road and Tilehurst Road entrances to ensure that paying passengers only have access to the platforms.

A new bus interchange, improved cycle parking and pedestrian crossing have also been added as part of the scheme, along with improvements to the Tilehurst Road entrance.

[grahame]

And it's going to be opening next Tuesday - here's the announcement from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - especially for anyone who feels they count as "media":

There is logic to suggest that a well established member of the Coffee Shop could go along to report at we're a form of media. At one point we had a roving reporter ...

[paul7575]

“ New ticket gates have also been installed at the Oxford Road and Tilehurst Road entrances to ensure that paying passengers only have access to the platforms.”

Presumably that means non-paying passengers get a greater level of access?   

[nickswift99]

They might, but asking at the Excess Fares window at Reading for a single from Reading West is going to elicit a different response.

I suspect quite a few people will get caught in the next few weeks.

[grahame]

“ New ticket gates have also been installed at the Oxford Road and Tilehurst Road entrances to ensure that only paying passengers have access to the platforms.”

... but asking at the Excess Fares window at Reading for a single from Reading West is going to elicit a different response.

(Quotes trimmed/adjusted for clarify)

Ticketed passenger flow data shows that over a third of journeys from / to Reading West have been to Reading [General] which suggests to me that dumbelling might be a significant issue.   The stats available to us do not differential between journeys from Reading West to Reading [General] and from Reading [General] to Reading West.  The excess ticket window may well be more question now of arrivals from "Reading West", but the main concourse ticket office, surley, has to continue to sell tickets to Reading West including to passengers who are intended to travel illegally further to ungated stations.  I have also seen over the years far too many "person hit by train" reports from Reading West, and would hope that ticket gates might provided a deterrent to people who are intentionally hit - I don't know the times of day these events happen, but they would require the gates to be in operation for most hours and not just at peaks.