Reading Station improvements

[whole diary]

[Electric train]

Sad to see Cow Lane Depot go spent a good summer there in 1977 when I was an apprentice, was and I certain they still are a great team of fitters, electricians etc, they have always maintained a high level of availability of the units in their care.   

I wish them well with their new facilities.

[paul7575]

New depot finally opens...

That makes it sound as if it is late, but I'm fairly sure it has been brought into full use significantly earlier than the date originally announced.

The CP4^▸ (Control Period 4 - the five year period between 2009 and 2014) milestones still show the depot completion as Key Output 2 due in November 2013...

Paul

[TonyK]

This is not the first recent project to be completed early by National Rail, although by other measurements it is 30 years late.

[paul7575]

New depot finally opens:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-23354169

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-23361642 (video)

Looking very modern compared the old one!

... both the article and video explain that the depot is in the way of the 'new flyover' which is not correct any more, now that the eastern curve (Reading Feeder Line) is remaining on the level and the mainlines are going on the flyover. 

I feel the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) are also giving a bit too much weight to the lack of an order for new trains - it is widely understood that the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)'s current plan is to tack the relevant units onto existing orders for Southern, this is underway and should easily meet the target date.  The original plan after all was to use cascaded 319s freed up the Thameslink route, what is happening now ought to be a far better solution, so we shouldnt be too critical...

Paul

[eightf48544]

I feel the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) are also giving a bit too much weight to the lack of an order for new trains - it is widely understood that the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)'s current plan is to tack the relevant units onto existing orders for Southern, this is underway and should easily meet the target date.  The original plan after all was to use cascaded 319s freed up the Thameslink route, what is happening now ought to be a far better solution, so we shouldnt be too critical...

Oh dear the TV commuters aren't going to like being switched from 377 type units to TFL^▸ (Transport for London) cattle wagons for Crossrail!

[paul7575]

Oh dear the TV commuters aren't going to like being switched from 377 type units to TFL^▸ (Transport for London) cattle wagons for Crossrail!

Crossrail 10 car trains have been specced for 450 seats, ie 45 per car on average.  Logically that number has to include significant amounts of 2+2 seating.  I'm assuming by 'TfL^» (Transport for London - about) cattle wagons' you mean the LO 378s, with their 32 longitudinal seats per carriage?

Paul

[IndustryInsider]

Bit off topic now (mods to move to the Crossrail thread?), but I think that a sensible seating layout for the Crossrail design would be 2+2 metro style seating (as on the LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise)/LO Class 172s) for part of the train which works out at about 60 seats per carriage and longitudinal seating for the other part at around 32 seats per carriage.

If you had the middle four carriages as longitudinal and the three carriages at either end as 2+2 metro then that would give you around 490 seats which is similar to the spec - slight reductions for disabled spaces, bike spaces and toilets might be needed to take that back down to somewhere near the specified 450 seats.

That would mean those who are travelling longer distances from places like Taplow and Burnham could get relatively comfy seating at either end of the train, with those travelling shorter distances in the core section able to pack into the middle carriages with their ample standing room.  Just an idea...

[stuving]

I feel the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) are also giving a bit too much weight to the lack of an order for new trains - it is widely understood that the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)'s current plan is to tack the relevant units onto existing orders for Southern, this is underway and should easily meet the target date.  The original plan after all was to use cascaded 319s freed up the Thameslink route, what is happening now ought to be a far better solution, so we shouldnt be too critical...

The TV report also made a point that the depot was designed for electrics and there won't be any for years - somewhat wide of the mark, given that the depot was rapidly re-designed when electrification was announced (unless this was done from the start as an option).

I noted last week that the DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) were spread around both the "IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.)" sidings and the D/EMU^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) ones past the depot. As the six "IEP" sidings have access at both ends, that adds the equivalent of 12 extra parallel sidings to the seven (or eight) in the far set (based on the plans published by RBC^‡(resolve)). So the potential problem of stacking order should be minimal.

The D/EMU sidings are pretty long, relative to the length of trains. So why isn't there an access track running across them at the far end? There is also scope to extend the track half-way that leads to the shorter three sidings to allow all three long ones to be used as six halves.

And what are the "IEP sidings" for? I didn't think IEP was going to be used on any services that start or finish at Reading. What have I missed?

[paul7575]

And what are the "IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) sidings" for? I didn't think IEP was going to be used on any services that start or finish at Reading. What have I missed?

Stabling and depot locations aren't always at the end of a route. They just run ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) to a suitable start point as appropriate.  Another point is that services running at start and end of the day don't necessarily have to run over the whole route, some may even start very early from Reading to provide outbound services from Paddington and vice versa at the end of the day.

The sort of thing I'm thinking of is what XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) do at their Eastleigh stabling site, they throw out eight Voyagers every morning, which start variously at Southampton, Reading, Bournemouth and Winchester; but they would be mostly considered to be part of XC's 'Bournemouth' services...

Paul

[pfneeves]

Walking over the deck this morning saw that all the rest of the roof on Platform 7 has now been removed and only the framework is left.

Hopefully now that work has started to remove the roof on this platform means that the work to put the new canopies on this platform and 1& 2 is going to start properly. The work on the canopy on Platform 1 & 2 seems to have come to a grinding halt. They have put the girders up and nothing since that. Although saying that they do seem to have had fun digging up the platform all over the place.

[Jason]

Hopefully now that work has started to remove the roof on this platform means that the work to put the new canopies on this platform and 1& 2 is going to start properly.

The surface of P1/2 has been completely redone very subtly, overnight - there is a new drain channel down the centre and all the brickwork has been relaid (except around the bases of the temporary supports, of course) with a nice gradient into the drain. Only the edging stones are unchanged at present.

All the riser girders are in place along the remaining length of P8/9 too.

[paul7575]

Hopefully now that work has started to remove the roof on this platform means that the work to put the new canopies on this platform and 1& 2 is going to start properly. The work on the canopy on Platform 1 & 2 seems to have come to a grinding halt. They have put the girders up and nothing since that. Although saying that they do seem to have had fun digging up the platform all over the place.

But how do you know it isn't happening exactly as planned?   If they want to run the normal services, P1/2 cannot be closed.  As far as I have been told by people on site, going back to the original start of demolition, their schedule has always assumed very limited overnight access, which is why the platform has been covered in removable decking for so long.

Perhaps they need to be able to bring a mobile crane into the Station Hill worksite to crane in the roof sections - that would seem a feasible approach - but clearly wouldn't be possible at the moment.  Maybe the August bank holiday closure of the route section, with buses between Reading and Reading West, will see the roof go on in one 'big bang'?

Paul

[stuving]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) report of one less "iconic" neighbour to show up the new station.
(from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-23410196)

Reading's Thames Tower to be re-clad not demolished
Developers who said they would replace a derelict building in Reading with a 25-storey skyscraper have scrapped their original plans.

LaSalle, which owns Thames Tower, planned to demolish the 1974 building and replace it with a "landmark" development.

It now says the skyscraper is "too risky" and plans to strip the tower back to its structure and reclad it.

Reading councillor Tony Page said he was "deeply disappointed".

He said there was "enormous public support" for replacing Thames Tower.

'Costly building'
However, he added he was "reassured" that the developer would continue to work towards the regeneration of the Station Hill area.

The development is next to Reading Station, which is currently undergoing a ^895m revamp.

LaSalle's European director, Andrew Bull, said he still believed the site was "one of the best office locations outside London".

"Reading's economy remains buoyant, but the problems in the European and UK^▸ (United Kingdom) economies are continuing for longer than anyone had expected," he said.

"We do not have confidence that we can fill so much space at the rents required by such a costly building."

[Jason]

Are the short-term plans for Station Hill documented anywhere now that pedestrian access has been diverted elsewhere ?

I see the shopfronts have all been boarded up and painted an eco compliant green colour but that doesn't exactly draw the eye from the immense gravel pit in the foreground.

[paul7575]

There's a planning application available here:  http://planning.reading.gov.uk/fastweb_PL/welcome.asp

You'll have to search using the application number as links go stale.

Planning Application Number:   130440

Site Address:   
Western Tower Office and 26-58 Station Hill Reading RG1 1NF

Description:   
Demolition of Station Hill Retail Parade (including 26 to 58 Station Hill) to create a multipurpose area to be used for holding temporary events. Works of hard and soft landscaping and other incidental works.

Paul