Reading Station improvements

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Reading station to close over Christmas due to revamp

Festive rail passengers around Reading are to be hit with delays as the first part of a ^400m revamp starts.

Network Rail said it was the best time to carry out the work which will see the station partially shut from late on Christmas Eve until 4 January.

A bus replacement service will operate but some rail services will be allowed to run at busy times.

The station will be remodelled by 2013 to include five more platforms and two additional entrances.

Network Rail said: "We're working closely with First Great Western and other train operating companies to minimise the impact of this work on your journeys. There will be a frequent, efficient, replacement bus timetable, and plenty of staff on hand to help you on your journey."

[Timmer]

Going to be some interesting diversions on long distance services whilst this work takes place with West of England services diverted via Salisbury to Waterloo and Bristol/South Wales services operating via Banbury before heading down to Paddington.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

will this be via yeovil or taunton

[JayMac]

I'd imagine that the up West of England services will run ususal route as far as Westbury, reverse then via Salisbury to Waterloo.

[Timmer]

I'd imagine that the up West of England services will run ususal route as far as Westbury, reverse then via Salisbury to Waterloo.

Think thats the plan. That way a near normal service can operate on the Waterloo-Exeter line and Tiverton, Taunton, Castle Cary and Westbury still get a direct service to London.

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Network Rail explain work over Christmas in Reading

Christmas seems a while away, especially in the middle of summer. But Network Rail has announced there will be significant works on the tracks in Reading over the festive period. The works are part of the first phase of ^400m worth of planned rail developments in the town.

But how will train-users be affected?

"We've got two really important jobs to do over Christmas," David Wilson from Network Rail said. "We will modernise the signalling for the whole of the Reading area. That's a huge job, which we've started already and will complete at Christmas. We've also got to replace a railway bridge over Caversham Road, to make way for new track and platforms for the station above. So they are two massive jobs. It's the sort of job you can only do by taking possession of the railway and unfortunately impacting on passenger services for a period."

Service disruption

There will be no train services on Christmas and Boxing Day, and work will continue into the New Year, David explained. "Obviously on Christmas Day and Boxing Day there wouldn't normally be services anyway, that's why we are doing the work then. But then there are two further Bank Holidays after Christmas Day and Boxing Day because it falls on a weekend this year. So we will be working through those Bank Holidays and the next two days as well. A large amount of our work will be done by the 30th of December. Whilst that work is going on there will be bus services to take people to where they want to go. We will re-open the station on New Year's Eve because we are aware a lot of people will want to travel then, and then we will be doing some work on the New Year's weekend but some trains will be running."

Snow danger

There is a danger that bad weather might cause further disruption to the services. David explained that there is a contingency plan for that. "We are planning very carefully. Everyone saw what happened in Reading last Christmas. We are well aware of the impact of bad weather and making really good contingency plans, just in case we get snow or wind. We will be ready."

Reading Station will get the revamp by 2013 and work is currently underway on Caversham and Vastern Road bridges and on Napier Road.

"We are lucky with the Reading project," David said. "Our funding has been agreed. We've got that in the bag from the Government. Obviously, like any large construction projects at the moment, we are aware of the tough financial circumstances we are operating in and we're looking at the project to see how we can deliver it as efficiently as possible. But the Reading project is definitely going ahead."

Bottle neck

Mike Greedy from Passenger Focus, an independent watchdog, explained how the group is backing the plan.

"I think this is the only way of going about it. Reading is a national bottle neck for passengers. All of us using Reading find a severe disruption because of limitations on the infrastructure there. So this has got to be good news for passengers. We're satisfied they are doing this at the best time of year to cause the least disruption. We've been working very closely with Network Rail and First Great Western to make sure they have the best contingency plans because this must be re-opened for the start of business again on the 4th of January. Everyone is well aware of that and we're fairly confident they have the right plans in place to do this."


Winter 2010 services are as follows:

Christmas Day and Boxing Day - No services scheduled.

27 December to 30 December, 2010 - All train lines through Reading will be closed.

First Great Western will put on alternative transport for local services to, from and through Reading.

New Year's Eve - All routes will be open. A Bank Holiday service will operate including additional trains from London.

New Year's Day through to 3 January, 2011 - Long distance train services will run to and from London via diversionary routes. All other routes will be open, with a Bank Holiday service in operation.

Monday, 4 January - Normal scheduled trains services are expected to run.

[paul7575]

Does that seem to imply that diverted long distance services will only run over New Year weekend?

I.E. on the 27th -30th it'll be local bustitution only as they expect only minimal work travel during the intermediate week?  I'm not criticising, btw, I think they have discovered there is a major reduction in travel during that week in recent years, with a lot of businesses closing for the duration.

Paul

[willc]

Does that seem to imply that diverted long distance services will only run over New Year weekend?

I.E. on the 27th -30th it'll be local bustitution only as they expect only minimal work travel during the intermediate week?  I'm not criticising, btw, I think they have discovered there is a major reduction in travel during that week in recent years, with a lot of businesses closing for the duration.

Paul

It's not as clear as it should be but bear in mind this is a BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Berkshire report, aimed at people living in and around Reading, for whom all FGW^▸ (First Great Western) services for most of the period affected will be bus-shaped, so what the diverted trains are up to is neither here not there for them.

The FGW website has a dedicated page giving details of what's going to happen http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=4888 and there are already posters up at stations warning people there will be work at Reading over Christmas and New Year.

Just hope the email update service is better organised than the one for the Cotswold Line work - if anything has been sent out by FGW since last summer, I haven't received it.

[A V Lowe]

Just looked at the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website - reading this about Reading you might imagine that the FGW blockade was only affecting the GW^▸ (Great Western) Main Line.  There is mention of just Didcot and Twyford.  Nothing about the SWT^▸ (South West Trains)/North Downs route which could presumably continue to operate as I suspect Reading is an end-on junction at the interface between power boxes and a relatively simple connection to commission.

No mention either of the Newbury and Basingstoke routes and whether the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services will still run via Didcot and the West curve to Basingstoke.  Presumably this is currently at T minus 26 stage of fine tuning the plans and filling in the details, preparing for the T minus 12 download to the National Timetable.

Almost worth inviting a contribution towards the Evergreen 3 Bicester-Oxford project as a diversionary route for the future albeit unlikely to deliver much in time for the substantially greater work taking place at Reading.  I also wonder if the West Curve connection to Basingstoke remains open, whether a '1-week' Workington North platform detail could save a substantial number of replacement coaches from Didcot , and put something at (or near) the proposed Green Park site.     

[Electric train]

I believe that Reading will be blocked to all trains http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/7585.aspx not sure how this will affect cross-country trains but as the works over Christmas is the relocation of signaling from Reading Box to Didcot this will affect the whole of the immediate Reading area interlocking.

[eightf48544]

As far as I know all routes around Reading (including West Curve and Winnersh) are out over Xmas.

The only sevice diversions I've heard about are some HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) taking the Foxhall curve at Didcot and reversing at Banbury for Padd. I still need the Foxhall curve.

Whether XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) would run via Salisbury and Bristol. But it would mean a lot of route learing unless they can hire in FGW^▸ (First Great Western) pilotmen.

[A V Lowe]

I gather that WC^▸ (Wiltshire Council (Unitary Authority)) will run from Waterloo and Cotswolds via Banbury may get more detail soon.  That still doesn't answer SWT^▸ (South West Trains) and North Downs.

[Oxman]

Cross Country will stop/start at Didcot and Basingstoke. Coaches between Didcot and Reading, Reading and Basingstoke, and Didcot and Winchester (quicker and easier than Basingstoke).

SWT^▸ (South West Trains) and North Downs will stop/start at Wokingham, coaches Reading - Wokingham.

Kennet Valley will stop/start Theale, coaches Theale and Reading.

[inspector_blakey]

We've inadvertently ended up with two thread running on the work happening at Reading over Christmas. To keep all the info on thsi subject in one place, I've moved the original thread from the "London to Reading" board to "Across the West", since this will have a significant impact on FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s high-speed and LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) operations. And I've merged in the thread started by A V Lowe. Hope that's reasonably clear to everyone!

[IndustryInsider]

It's a little small, but here's a schematic diagram of the bus/train plans for Reading this Xmas: