Reading Station improvements

[whole diary]

[paul7575]

It's diiifcult to visualise the final positions of the platform faces for P7 - P10 looking down from the footbridge, but I think they may all be moving.  So maybe the signal above P10 may need to be moved if/when P10 gets realigned, and the wires go up. 

Yes, when I mentioned the P10 line I neglected to include the point that the new signal seems to be positioned above and to the left of the future position of the P10 track, which wll be slewed out at the east end of the station, ie extended in line with the current temporary platform.  You can see the blockwork beyond the country end of the platform which denotes the eventual alignment.

In the case of the P8 and P9 island though, there is no fundamental change to the future position in terms of north/south alignment on the site.  Firstly I was told at one of the very early briefing sessions that they would only be having their surfaces and edge copings updated in situ, but this is also confirmed for all practical purposes by the existence of the new canopies sitting vertically above the existing platform edges.  The operational lengths of the platforms may shift slightly though, meaning that there may be areas out of use at the London end, because it is intended that the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) (and presumably IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.)) stopping position will be equalised either side of the new 'transfer deck'.  Will be interesting to see if the London end of the island's surface is overhauled to the same standard as the rest - in fact might it be slightly shortened?

Paul

[SandTEngineer]

.... and stood on Platform No.8 under the new transfer deck yesterday morning it suddenly hit me what a huge station its going to be when its all finished

[Boppy]

Track now properly laid up the ramp to the east of the station on the north side.

[Jason]

Various sections of the P1/P2 canopy 'selectively removed' leaving the cross struts to P3/P7 in place still.

[paul7575]

Thinking back to last weeks discussion about the road area outside the new southern concourse, webcam 2/2 is showing this morning (13th about 10-12 am) that they've broken through into the void space below the existing road surface.  We'll probably get an idea over the next few days how it will look when fully removed and lowered to ground level, as they probably won't take long to get rid of the waste...

Track now properly laid up the ramp to the east of the station on the north side.

...and a Kirov rail crane practically alongside the multi story carpark just now - visible in background of above webcam. 

All be over by Christmas... 

Paul

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

I was looking down on the new islands and it does seem the canopied areas are very short.  Vast tracts of  the London ends are uncovered.  You come down the escalator, theres's a short canopy, then nothing. The block paving has left no spaces for any columns for canopies that haven't appeared yet.

Even, as Paul says, the stopping position for trains is centred under the new footbridge, there seems to me that there will be quite a bit of a long turbo, an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) or IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) out in the open.  Does FGW^▸ (First Great Western) expect its 1st class passengers to wait in the rain, or to huddle under the canopy and make a run for it when the train arrives? (not very good for H&S^▸ (Health and Safety)).

Hopefully I'm wrong, and that the canopies will be extended once the existing footbridge is demolished.

[Southern Stag]

The videos on the Network Rail project giving artists impressions' of the finished project have shorter canopies on the new relief line platforms but full length canopies on the main line platforms. Whether this actually happens remains to be seen as none of the main line platforms have their new canopies yet.

[paul7575]

The canopies seem as per the planning application drawings, on the reliefs they are about 150m on a 250m platform.  They extend west about the same distance as the P8/9 and P10/11 canopies.  They do appear short relative to the east end perhaps because the existing islands are somewhat longer than them, and maybe also look short because of the end on view - the sloping roof over the escalators (yet to be fitted) accounts for a significant proportion of the length as far as I can work out.

I'd also point out that it is very unusual for full length canopies to be provided, taking rail the network as a whole...

I've attached the platform canopy level planning drawing below...

Paul

[paul7575]

The videos on the Network Rail project giving artists impressions' of the finished project have shorter canopies on the new relief line platforms but full length canopies on the main line platforms. Whether this actually happens remains to be seen as none of the main line platforms have their new canopies yet.

The west end canopy of P8/9 is at its full length already, the steelwork 'corners' are both in place.  As per my other post, that roughly marks the west end limit of all four of the main canopies (except P1/2/3/7, which surprisingly are shown slightly shorter)...

Paul

[Jonty]

Does anyone know whether there will be a First Class Lounge at the new station?

[JayMac]

That would probably depend on who the next Greater Western franchisee is.

I think it unlikely if First Group retain the franchise, having closed the lounge at Bristol Temple Meads and only reluctantly continued to nominally operate (through RailGourmet) the lounge at Cardiff Central. Stagecoach have opened new lounges on their East Midlands Trains franchise so they may consider it for other stations on Greater Western should they win the franchise. National Express seemed committed to providing First Class Lounges when they briefly ran the InterCity East Coast franchise so they may be a possible. As for Arriva, anybody's guess.

[IndustryInsider]

I've attached the platform canopy level planning drawing below...

Thanks.  That also answers a question I had about the provision and location of escalators, stairs and lifts.

[paul7575]

As Graham has allowed a slightly larger file size for attachments, here's the platform level drawing.  Should allow hours of fun as people try and find a location for a first class lounge, as well...   

Paul

 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks, Paul. 

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

The canopies seem as per the planning application drawings, on the reliefs they are about 150m on a 250m platform.  They extend west about the same distance as the P8/9 and P10/11 canopies.  They do appear short relative to the east end perhaps because the existing islands are somewhat longer than them, and maybe also look short because of the end on view - the sloping roof over the escalators (yet to be fitted) accounts for a significant proportion of the length as far as I can work out.

I'd also point out that it is very unusual for full length canopies to be provided, taking rail the network as a whole...

I've attached the platform canopy level planning drawing below...

Paul

Pual, thanks again for being the provider of hard information.  My point remains that platforms without canopies reflects an assumption that it's OK for people to get on and off trains in the wet.  And that insufficient attention has been given to the H&S^▸ (Health and Safety) and station dwell time issues associated with people congregating in an area shorter than the train they intend boarding. 

I accept some canopies at some stations (eg Pangbourne) have been shortened over the years because of maintenance issues, but I can't see any excuses for installing short canopies on new-build platforms.