Reading Station improvements

[whole diary]

[lbraine]

Forementioned Swansea train departing P9.

P3 was also open with a Cross Country located in it.


One thing noted : Cross Crountry departed P8a and joined Festival line before joining Down Main on the Viaduct. While making this path the P9 starter was a Single Yellow - with the Red showing further along the line just before the Viaduct cross over.

But the Swansea train driver was taking instructions from a couple of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Orange jackets who seemed to tell him to wait until the Viaduct was showing green before starting off.

I presume this is part of a 'slow and steady' route learning approach.

Also it's that Cow Lane is closed for 4 nights from the 12th Jan - perhaps to demolish the remainder of the old Cow Lane tunnel.

[a-driver]

One thing noted : Cross Crountry departed P8a and joined Festival line before joining Down Main on the Viaduct. While making this path the P9 starter was a Single Yellow - with the Red showing further along the line just before the Viaduct cross over.

But the Swansea train driver was taking instructions from a couple of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Orange jackets who seemed to tell him to wait until the Viaduct was showing green before starting off.

I presume this is part of a 'slow and steady' route learning approach.

Or they're worried about starting an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) from stationary on a steep rising gradient!

[ChrisB]

More likely, I would suggest

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

I think HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s are OK starting on a 1 in 93, which someone said was the rising gradient going west from Reading station.  After all, HST's start OK at Totnes and Bodmin Road where there are similar gradients.  And it'll complicate the job of train dispatchers on 8/9 have if they to wait for a Green before seeing off trains.  The repeaters (I think!) say only OFF or ON.

On another point, the layout at Oxford Road junction is a bit odd.  Trains on the Feeder Main heading for the Down Westbury will need to go right at T 2803 and use the Feeder Relief, which thus prevents parallel moves.  Maybe space is a problem, but the crossover where the Up Reading West Curve line crosses the Up Westbury line would be better as a pair of points.

[eightf48544]

HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) can start from Reading Westbound and use the viaduct but only if both power cars are working.

[bobm]

From Get Reading

First public train over the new Reading elevated section - from Network Rail
   
Network Rail tweeted a picture of the first public train over the newly-opened elevated section at Reading Station.

The train was the 7.45am Bristol to Paddington.

The ^895 million redevelopment of the station should be completed this year.

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Looks like a down train - isn't that the Festival line on the right?

[ellendune]

Then perhaps it is the 08:00 Padd to Penzance as stated by a-driver

[stuving]

It immediately becomes obvious that the north end of the layout is flexible offering parallel movements onto and off the feeder lines with no conflicts, however at the southern end, parallel moves are not possible. Down direction Main Feeder to Down Westbury routes down Main Feeder, down Relief Feeder, Down Reading West Curve and then Down Westbury, so conflicting with any up direction routeing from the Up Westbury onto the Relief Feeder. An up loaded stone train could block the route for some time. Is it likely that a crossover between the Up Westbury and Down Westbury will be added in the future, in order that the routeing is not via the Relief Feeder?

Can I add my welcome to the forum, Mike. "Aha - here's another troublemaker", I thought; you ought to feel at home here, anyway.

On another point, the layout at Oxford Road junction is a bit odd.  Trains on the Feeder Main heading for the Down Westbury will need to go right at T 2803 and use the Feeder Relief, which thus prevents parallel moves.  Maybe space is a problem, but the crossover where the Up Reading West Curve line crosses the Up Westbury line would be better as a pair of points.

I think there are very few cases where such parallel moves could occur, and those only in unusual circumstances.

The original plan had the Reading Feeder Relief Line (then also misleadingly called "Down") only connecting to the Relief Lines and platforms 12-15 (which is still true), and the Reading Feeder Main Line (then also called "Up") only connecting to the Main Lines and platforms 10 and 11. The RFML is there to take trains from the Up Westbury Line into P10 and P11, and almost nothing else. You can't get into it from platforms 1-3 and 7-9, but they (apart from P9) have access to the Down Westbury directly. The RFRL is there for all the trains into and out of P12-15 via the Westbury Lines. However, through passenger trains to and from Paddington are only a minority - most start and terminate in P1 and P2. Freight trains are thus probably more important.

We have never had an "official" reason for the added connection between the RFML and P12 (note - only P12). But I think it must be this: if an up train is standing on the RFRL (at T.1728), awaiting a platform or path through one, it blocks any move onto the Westbury Line, and there is no alternative other than crossing to the Main Lines back at Kennet Bridge. Since P12 is on the Down Relief (P13 is the Down Relief Loop) it allows a "tie-breaker" move over the RFML; this is never going to be heavily used, but its capacity for up trains would still be lost for a considerable time, including margins. Of course if the RFRL is occupied, no train can be signalled to enter it via Oxford Road Junction, so the parallel move is ruled out anyway.

You can always find cases of disruption where a particular additional move adds useful flexibility; perhaps the main one here is the loss of the Festival Line, for which the Feeder Lines offer a way to turn XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) trains in the Relief Line platforms. But often there are several competing examples of these - here, a crossover between the Mains on the viaduct would be one (and has other merits).

Current practice does not accord flexibility much priority - not enough to buy much by way of S&C^▸ (Settle and Carlisle ), anyway. Parallel moves only score brownie points where the frequency of trains can't be provided otherwise, and I'm not sure even that applies to "disruption only" service patterns.

[Visoflex]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) damning with faint praise as usual

Work on a railway viaduct in Reading has been completed.

The new 2km (1.25 mile)-long flyover on the First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) mainline, has been built to separate passenger trains from freight trains.

The train firm said the elevated section would make a "huge difference" to services as fast mainlines will be taken over freight and relief lines.

The viaduct is expected to stop queues and free up pinch points on the network at Reading.

The work is one of the final phases of the ^895m redevelopment project at Reading station.

Passengers faced train cancellations and delays of 40 minutes in Reading while the final phase of the work, which started on Christmas Eve, was carried out.

[ellendune]

Some video of the first train from ITV Meridian

[stuving]

Then perhaps it is the 08:00 Padd to Penzance as stated by a-driver

According to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website), someone sent off to snap the "first public train" would have seen:

07:49 5Z05 - P9, Down - ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) HST^▸ (High Speed Train) to Swindon (due after 08:30)
08:22 693T - P9, Down - light loco to Didcot for refuelling
08:39 1C05 - P9, Down - HST to Penzance via Swindon
08:47 1W15 - P9, Down - Turbo to Ddicot
08:58 1A07 - P10, Up - HST from Bristol
09:12 1M30 - P8, Down - Voyager to Didcot
09:15 1B15 - P9, Down - HST to Swansea

So yes, 1C05 was really the first, but someone inclined to forget to take the lens cap off (or its digital equivalent) had other options.

Incidentally, RTT is labelling the lines on the viaduct at High Level Junction, and in P7, P8 and P9 too, as "DU" and "DD", depending on the train's direction. P10 and P11 are still labelled "UM". So where does that DU/DD come from?

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Whatever the original plan for the layout was, the fact is that the new facing connection from P12 to the Feeder Main allows a route to be set up for down freight trains (or down Bedwyns?) from the London direction through P12 to Feeder Main to Down Westbury.  Why else would the connection have been put in?

If the layout were changed at Oxford Road Junction as I suggested you would then be able to set up a parallel route from Up Westbury to West Curve Down or to P13-15 via the Feeder Relief.  I think this flexibility would be useful bearing in mind the number and type of movements we'll be seeing at Oxford Road Junction.

Makes you think that they need to rethink (again!) the names of the Feeder Lines.

[paul7575]

I wonder how many passengers on these services would have been interested or even noticed this change ? I know I would have that's for sure

I did a down trip on a relatively empty XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) to Didcot from P7, (at about 1010 or so, the first that had come through from Southampton), and returned on a full and standing HST^▸ (High Speed Train) into P10 (1044 from Didcot).   I think I can safely say that hardly anyone commented on the route over the viaduct, that's if they even noticed.

I thought the guards on each train might possibly have mentioned it in passing, but nothing at all was said.

At about 1115 the next XC service to Didcot was signalled from P7 towards the festival line with a single yellow at the same time as a Swansea service was leaving the station from P9 - so that suggests they would have no issues with a Voyager coming to a stand on the gradient?

Later I caught the 1153 XC to Basingstoke, initially announced as leaving from P8B, but then platform changed into P3.

All a bit of an anti-climax really...

Paul

[grahame]

Went over it a few minutes ago (up from Didcot to Reading).  Would upload some out-the-window pictures but all you'll see is black.  Smooth - I think we slowed down over the new section (perhaps it's bedding in?) and glided nicely into Reading.