Reading Station improvements

[whole diary]

[paul7575]

Not reported on so far to the best of my knowledge, but I noticed today that the vertical steelwork sections for the P8/9 canopy have been installed, and they reach about as far as the London end of P7, suggesting that (unlike on the relief side) the vast majority of the main line platforms will be undercover.

I recall there were some concerns a while back about the canopy lengths...   

Paul

[stuving]

Not reported on so far to the best of my knowledge, but I noticed today that the vertical steelwork sections for the P8/9 canopy have been installed, and they reach about as far as the London end of P7, suggesting that (unlike on the relief side) the vast majority of the main line platforms will be undercover.

I recall there were some concerns a while back about the canopy lengths...   

Paul

The concern was more with the relief platform canopies, given their use as  two halves. The mains are shown about as long in the drawings as you describe; the puzzle there is that those drawings show pre-rebuild platform extents and they are being built shorter.

I presume P3/7 will soon gets its stanchions too - it had lost all the canopy frame by Monday, and the pillars should be gone this week.

And actually it was noted a week ago (#1930).

[paul7575]

And actually it was noted a week ago (#1930).

So it was.  I mustn't have reacted to the word 'risers' when scanning through, unfortunately...

Paul

[paul7575]

A couple of lorry loads of platform roofing sections have been delivered today, they are stacked outside the north side office entrance;  visible on webcam 1/3 (that doesn't normally show much nowadays...

I reckon they look about the right size for P10/11;  assuming they would deliver P1 and P2 stuff to the south side, once they can get a crane into the vicinity.

Paul

[stuving]

Yesterday I found the platform displays of P1-7 all showing the "Welcome to Reading..." message. Today those at the entry to P4-6 were entirely blank. In both cases nothing (other than the usual PA^▸ (Public Address) announcements) was done to avoid the untidy heap of baffled passengers in the limited space at the end of P4-6.

Yesterday one of the dispatchers on P7 was doing extra announcements as loud as he could manage without a loud-hailer. At the entry to P1-2 someone had found a whiteboard, with only static information but that happens to be valid until after 8 pm. Surely the obligatory response to this failure should be a white-board and a dispatcher with a marker pen to update the time and destination for each train as it arrives?

( On another type of confusion: the 18:34 to Gatwick left from P14A today (though realtimetrains does not show this or the incoming movement). As it came in, the "this train is not scheduled to stop" announcement was played, which was puzzling as the 18:48 to Paddington was already standing at P14B. )

[James]

Hmm Interesting post stuving.
Here's an observation from the trusty live train information at Reading for today Saturday 08/08/2013.
The reason why is that my sister was due to go to Southampton for a day trip, and what i found interesting is that a Arriva Crosscountry train was arriving and departing from platform 10!. I thought only non stop London Paddington trains where due to run through platform 10 but was amazed to see on the live information page that a arriva crosscountry train come in at 1807 and left at 1818, with another train due at 1820. How does that work when one train is heading west and the other is coming head on with the Cross Country?
My question here, is why was the cross country in platform 10 and not in it's normal platform 13 or 14, or has the train system for layout's at reading changed?
It would have been a simple change at Reading, but as ever it never works like that

[paul7575]

The reason why is that my sister was due to go to Southampton for a day trip, and what i found interesting is that a Arriva Crosscountry train was arriving and departing from platform 10!.

XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services must use one of platforms 8, 9 or 10 if reversing to or from the south, there is no route provided from the relief line side of the station towards Reading West.  Hence the majority of XC services on Monday to Saturday (to/from Bournemouth or Southampton) do NOT use P13 or P14, and have not been able to do so since the Easter changes.

If you check out a site such as realtimetrains for a weekday (link below) you'll see that P8/9/10 are all well used.  P10 is the current  default for all up main trains, whether stopping or not, but it is still available for reversers as well. During the off-peak certain HST^▸ (High Speed Train) operated services run through platform 15 when P10 is occupied by XC, they crossover to the reliefs at Tilehurst and back to the mains at Kennet Bridge junction:

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/advanced?location=Reading&date=9%2F8%2F2013&tocs=XC&timespan=4&show_schedules=11&schedule_type=0&show_wtt=1&show_var=1&show_stp=1

Link should be valid for weekday XC trains until next Friday or so...

Paul

[paul7575]

( On another type of confusion: the 18:34 to Gatwick left from P14A today (though realtimetrains does not show this or the incoming movement). As it came in, the "this train is not scheduled to stop" announcement was played, which was puzzling as the 18:48 to Paddington was already standing at P14B. )

A very common scenario, and not just at Reading.  The PIS^▸ (Passenger Information System) is picking up on the fact that is an ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) (Class 5) train, and defaults to the 'non stopping' message.  It might be better to play the 'not in public service' message, to be more relevant to what's actually occurring.     

Another regular that occurs, is that they play 'not scheduled to stop' for freight trains that are booked to stop for a driver change...

Paul

[James]

Ah i see, that's cleared that one up then. Regardless of that, Reading Station is looking very impressive. No complaints from me. In fact this is the only piece of railway infrastructure to be built, that is worth the disruption and money.
Maybe other area's should take this wonderful design idea and put it into action.
Also once electrification gets going well then i think Reading will then have done enough to satisfy the council and other bodies to make it a City of the Thames Valley, because other times it tried to become a city were turned down on the grounds that the Station of Reading needed bigger platforms and major redevelopment. Well i hope it receives city states as it deserves it. Well done Network Rail, however you still have other work to do so don't fall foul of your duties, because you can achieve great things like you have done here.

I will watch what happens here, and if all goes well, then maybe it should look at the Didcot Area.
One idea is to build a flyover so that fast london to oxford services and fast crosscountry services can cross from the main's to the relief's without crossing the other lines, reducing delays further and enhancing extra capacity for the mainlines. What ever idea network rail has, may sure it happens soon, thats my advice.

[laird]

The next challenge in terms of a bottleneck is Reading to Southcote Junction (via Reading West) the Reading design permits for conversion from two to three tracks although a new bridge near Reading West would be required. (Didcot isn't much of a problem because the peak flow is in a consistent direction in Morning and Evening).


At Reading station what concerns me with the delivered design is the passenger flow which seems abysmal and with little hope of improvement.
I am always pleased to see the modernity of glass, steel and concrete completed by the addition of the semi-permanent blue barriers at the top of the escalators from the new Southern entrance. :-)

Something also seems wrong with the proportion of Platforms 8 and 9 in comparison to 10 and 11. While 8 and 9 will eventually handle a similar number of passengers to 10 and 11, 10 and 11 will cope not only with the same transiting number of passengers + the morning commuters waiting for their fast services to Paddington.

I guess in a while we will be enjoying the winter and as the escalators fail under the strain and contamination from being exposed to the elements the city assessors can arrive to see the boarded up mecca bingo, old bus station and associated buildings ... truly Reading has taken a step forward in its desire to become a city. ;-)

[aleph_0]

Something also seems wrong with the proportion of Platforms 8 and 9 in comparison to 10 and 11. While 8 and 9 will eventually handle a similar number of passengers to 10 and 11, 10 and 11 will cope not only with the same transiting number of passengers + the morning commuters waiting for their fast services to Paddington.

Whilst I suspect the size of the islands was motivated by practical means, the sizes make sense imo. Passengers using 10/11 shouldn't be waiting on it long before jumping on the train. OTOH^▸ (On The Other Hand), A passenger on platform 8/9 may be waiting some time for their specific train.

[paul7575]

As we've discussed before, the fact that 8/9 is relatively large is because they simply retained the full existing island for ease of construction.  It happened to have been sized to allow for the closed bay platforms, but it doesn't therefore follow that the new 10/11 is too narrow.

As pointed out in the previous reply, passengers using P10/11 should not normally have to wait longer than the next train.  It is also P8/9 which seems to get the better waiting facilities, I suspect because they've realised that people heading west on trains with a much lower relative frequency per destination will tend to turn up earlier and wait longer for their specific train...

Paul

[ellendune]

Track seems to have been laid in P11 early this morning

[paul7575]

Track seems to have been laid in P11 early this morning

Looking at web cam 1/1 they made quick progress, with sleepers being delivered at around 0400, and top ballast going in by mid morning. 

Has anyone noticed if the junctions with the P10 line have been fitted - there was a discussion  a while back somewhere that suggested they'd initially just use plain line and divert the existing route through P11, and leave the S&C^▸ (Settle and Carlisle ) until P10 was rebuilt, and its replacement track completed?

IYSWIM...

Paul

[ellendune]

Has anyone noticed if the junctions with the P10 line have been fitted - there was a discussion  a while back somewhere that suggested they'd initially just use plain line and divert the existing route through P11, and leave the S&C^▸ (Settle and Carlisle ) until P10 was rebuilt, and its replacement track completed?

I dimly recall that the junction at the London end was laid some time ago.