Great Western Coffee Shop

"Huge 2,500 home Twyford plan in doubt due to Local Plan snub" (https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/19733805.huge-2-500-home-twyford-plan-doubt-due-local-plan-snub/)

Somewhat fanciful of the developers to include a "train station" in their plans, especially one as grand as in the artist's impression. (And isn't the logo-thingy wrong. Were it to be a Crossrail station, shouldn't it not be red?)

When I've done environmental work at Ruscombe, it's taken me 20 minutes to walk from Twyford Station to the Church, by an indirect route. As the crow files, they're about 1,100 yards apart.

And a bus station too!

It doesn't look purple which it should do. I can't make out what that colour is. The first photo in the following link shows how it should look -
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=25268.msg314330#msg314330

It is purple roundel in the news article.


'Twyford Gardens' is a bit of marketing hype by the developers to sell their low carbon dream to the local authorities, its not likely to get the by in of the ToCs of NR and the FoCs will object.    There was about 10 plus years ago a bid to build a station at Cox Green (Maidenhead West) this was objected to by the railway industry on the grounds of time tabling.

The village Facebook page doesn't seem to have been too impressed with the article. No mention that this was greenbelt, was never part of the Wokingham plan and no challenge to some of the claims made by the developers like a new station. It was suggested that perhaps the journalist had just printed the press release.

I vaguely remember the original plan was for a park and ride which I think locals were also a bit doubtful on how successful it would be.

Of the many things needed in Twyford - more GPs, schools etc I don't think I've heard anyone mention a new station. More fast services yes but additional stops would make that  harder.

Twyford is a bit out in the sticks for the Reading Chronicle?

Twyford has never been the same since it left Wiltshire.

Typical of journos on local news websites. The other day one referred to the new fire station in "Theale, Reading". (It's off the A340/A4 roundabou, BTW.) And we're about due for another article about the most expensive Reading streets - invariably in Shiplake. Some years ago, one website referred to a "Newbury school" that was in Hampstead Norreys.

London Oxford Airport

Various development plans over the years have proposed Didcot North and Didcot West, as well as moving the current station eastwards. Nothing comes of them.

As well as the unimaginatively named Thames Valley Park getting a station on the relief lines in east Reading that appears from time to time, although it’s been a good ten years since I last read anything about it.

At least the developer's spokesperson managed to refer to a railway station rather than the infantile "train station".

So handy for Selfridges no doubt.

And quite possibly closer to the centre of Birmingham than London as the crow (or any other bird that flys in a straight line) flys.

Flys or flies in this context?

It's a Newsquest title, as are the Bracknell News and its pages badged as the Wokingham News - in which the same article (slightly revised) appeared.

I've just had a 4-page brochure from Berkeley Homes through my letter box with information on the new development which I was about to scan and attach here but on the back page of it there's a link to a website: https://twyfordgardens.co.uk/ (https://twyfordgardens.co.uk/)

It contains more info and pictures than the brochure and of particular interest is a plan showing the proposed location of the new station: https://twyfordgardens.co.uk/the-vision/ (https://twyfordgardens.co.uk/the-vision/)

Artist's impression: https://twyfordgardens.co.uk/improving-local-infrastructure/ (https://twyfordgardens.co.uk/improving-local-infrastructure/)

Berkeley do seem to have revised their ideas since an earlier map escaped in 2018 (https://www.wokingham.today/mystery-over-housing-plan-map-found-in-ruscombe-woods/). It looks a little smaller, and the roads layout is quite different. And the new station has moved closer to Twyford!

From what they say, the old position would overlap with Ruscombe Junction, hence the change.  The gap is down to less than 1500 m.

Well, I suppose that now Twyford will soon be "on the Underground", such gaps no longer look daft.........

Sticking to the station element I'm not convinced. The demand for trains is for the 'fast' services to London and this proposal so far as I can tell would be about Crossrail stopping trains which  seem to have a reasonable amount of spare capacity. Building several thousand houses is going to create that demand rather than relieve it.

The car park argument seems reasonable although I'd imagine most people driving to the station would be travelling into London and go to Twyford for the fast trains. If you work in Reading is driving to Twyford gardens going to save you time and money?

The proposal does look very nice but I can't help but feel its going to overwhelm Twyford. There's been several new estates in the past decade or two around Twyford and the main problem has been the amount of 4 and 5 bed detached houses rather than higher density options. The brochure is quite vague on what they want to build and a comment only that they 'could' include social housing.

I'm moving from Twyford so I've avoided commenting on the proposal but if I was staying I would have reservations of which the train station is probably the least of them.

Perhaps the future will bring Twyford, Twyford Gardens, South Twyford, West Twyford, Twyford Lido and Twyford Manor.  Or perhaps with reduced commuting - people in the office just 2 to 4 days a week - not so much 'width' of service will be needed.