Reading Station improvements

[whole diary]

[ellendune]

From the Reading Post:

Uncertain future for railway caf^

Is it not Network Rail who are responsible for leasing retail units anyway?

Depends who is running the station.  At the moment FGW^▸ (First Great Western) run it, but I understand that it is the intention that Network Rail will run it directly in future as a "Major Station" . So I guess they are in limbo at the moment.

...during the year up until next spring they still have to rebuild all of platforms 3 and 7-11, in a sequence yet to be fully confirmed but starting with P11 until August.

What happens about P1-2.  The canopy has been demolished and the surface looks distinctly ropey in a number of places.  Surely they will have to be rebuilt as well?

[paul7575]

There seem to be no changes to the basic footprints of P1 and P2, and AIUI^▸ (as I understand it) from the EAS (engineering access statement) there are no planned long term closures of those two, so I have assumed that any resurfacing and canopy renewal will take place during normal overnight or weekend closure opportunities.

Even Platform 3 doesn't actually get physically altered as far as I know, although again it will presumably be resurfaced during the P7 alterations.  Although it is out of use for the immediate future this is because it is not possible to use it for its intended purpose, (reversing XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services) because of limitations of the interim layout while the western viaduct is built.

Paul

[autotank]

Oh dear looks like things have over run at Reading - not the start to the new station we were hoping. Anybody got more details?

Over running engineering works at Reading
Delays of up to one hour on First Great Western between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington, between Oxford and London Paddington and between Westbury and London Paddington
Following major engineering works over the Easter Weekend. The line is back in operation but all routes through Reading affected. There is no estimate for normal service. Also affecting Crosscountry services.
Source: Train Operating Company

[lbraine]

Nothing running on P 7/8/9/10

Seeing plenty of activity on the new platforms 12-15.

P12 is acting as the main from London
P14-15 are main and relief to London

Broken down train at Goring is not helping....

[TaplowGreen]

........oh what a surprise, (or perhaps not) utter chaos. 

[lbraine]

To be fair - we have seen worse.

London bound are delayed 3 to 20
Country bound are delayed 20 to 30

But NOT every train.

Given the Easter break I think majority of commuters will be unaffected

[TaplowGreen]

.....ah of course that makes it perfectly acceptable then, just a few tens of thousands inconvenienced!!! 

[BBM]

To be fair - we have seen worse.

London bound are delayed 3 to 20
Country bound are delayed 20 to 30

But NOT every train.

Given the Easter break I think majority of commuters will be unaffected

The 06:44 from Twyford to Paddington disappeared from the screens without trace but the following 06:53 (the 06:20 from Didcot) was only 3 minutes late - however it was only 3 cars instead of 6 so it was jammed full from Twyford and quite a crowd was left behind at Maidenhead (where it looked like the following 07:08 service was running about 40 minutes late).

[ellendune]

Nothing running on P 7/8/9/10

Seeing plenty of activity on the new platforms 12-15.

P12 is acting as the main from London
P14-15 are main and relief to London

Broken down train at Goring is not helping....

There was not supposed to be anything running on P 7/8/9/10/11 all week so no surprise there. P 8/9/10 not due to reopen until next week. P11 out until August and I think P 3 & 7 out for a period as well. 

[johoare]

To be fair - we have seen worse.

London bound are delayed 3 to 20
Country bound are delayed 20 to 30

But NOT every train.

Given the Easter break I think majority of commuters will be unaffected

The 06:44 from Twyford to Paddington disappeared from the screens without trace but the following 06:53 (the 06:20 from Didcot) was only 3 minutes late - however it was only 3 cars instead of 6 so it was jammed full from Twyford and quite a crowd was left behind at Maidenhead (where it looked like the following 07:08 service was running about 40 minutes late).

Anyone know where the three carriages went? Today, where there are less trains running than usual, really isn't the day to remove carriages from the trains that are running

[FellowTraveller]

It would be great if our friends at Lobstervision TV had some cameras directed at the station activity around platforms 7-11 as well as the new track layout East of the station. And whilst I'm compiling a wish list, it would also be good to see what is happening where the piling is taking place to the West too!

Really enjoyed being able to see the developments of the station and depot with the current set of cameras, but less to see these days as they are pointed at things that are pretty much complete or  nearly so.

Thanks go to the Flickr group who have contributed a lot of great shots over the Easter weekend that really brought the changes to life.

[Jason]

Anyone know where the three carriages went? Today, where there are less trains running than usual, really isn't the day to remove carriages from the trains that are running

The Twitter feed was earlier blaming displaced carriages on the overrunning engineering works.

[Network SouthEast]

Anyone know where the three carriages went? Today, where there are less trains running than usual, really isn't the day to remove carriages from the trains that are running

During the Reading blockade, quite a few trains in the Turbo fleet were kept at Old Oak Common instead of Reading depot. It is quite possible that if work over-ran this morning that they wouldn't have been able to get to Reading in time for the start of service.

[Boppy]

Hi,

I arrived at Reading this morning around 8.15 for my normal commute in and here are my initial impressions:

1)  The signage for people arriving at the Bus Station from the south informs people to go a long route via the "usual" Brunel Arcade entrance even though the new Southern Entrance is open.  I won't be taking that needless detour along Platform 7 tomorrow!

2)  The new Southern Entrance and Transfer Deck are very spacious and light and overall I was impressed.  The views are fantastic.  Screens and signage all good for me.  One issue was the the interior lights on the Eastern side of the Transfer Deck are all flickering and clearly still need fixing.

3)  Platforms feel spacious (I think that is more due to there being no hoardings any more to stand near by).  The "A" and "B" ends are clearly indicated.  Good to see one HST^▸ (High Speed Train) bound for London coming in on 14 whilst one was already sat on 15.

4)  The only let down for me is the Waiting Rooms at the Western end of the platforms.  The design to me appears a throw back to ugly BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) buildings from 60s/70s and reminded me of Coventry station.

(I'm ignoring the long delays due to the broken down train in my impressions).

Looking forward to my commute home!

Boppy.

[insider]

S&TE, are there separate Track Circuits for the A and B ends on P10-15?  I was going to look when I'm there on Tuesday, but you probably know.

Correct.  The Track Circuit split (They are not axle counters in the Relief platforms) should be just under the London Side of the new access bridge (are we allowed to call it a footbridge?).  This only applies to the Relief lines.  The Main lines will not have the split.

So the Track Circuit splits are between the "Rear Clear" boards (where else would they be?), which certainly mitigates to some degree the inherent risks of platform sharing (dare I mention Group Standrad GKRT0044 again?).  At least the signallers at Didcot will know when and where trains arriving in P10-15 have stopped - they may well get some surprises as they don't always know how long some trains actually are (whatever the train plan says).  I believe it is not uncommon for signallers to contact Drivers to ask how many coaches they are. 

My understanding is that all Plats through the station are axle counters. You can actually see the little yellow boxes where the wires from the axle counter heads go to in the middle of the platform. It is also what has been briefed to all drivers (so a driver tells me).