Reading Station improvements

[whole diary]

[ellendune]

The tower crane is lifting the other roof sections for the London end escalators as I write.

Just a thought, once all these roof sections go on there'll not be much to see at all!   

I always thought it was a bit of a shame that they didn't have a view of the track work at either end of the station area...

Paul

If you look on number 1 there is a new camera 5 - only the test card so far but...

[JayMac]

Travelled through Reading this evening....

Mildly surprised to see an up fast HST^▸ (High Speed Train) service to Paddington pull in on Platform 7. I've not really followed all the ins and outs of what is going on at Reading, but I'm curious to know since when the old Platform 4 (now 7) became bi-di.

Never seen an up service pull in on this platform before. Lots of shouting from the platform staff saying 'this train is heading to Paddington.... please stand back. The next service on this platform is for Worcester, calling at Didcot, Swindon and all stations to Cheltenham Spa.'

[bobm]

It has been for a few years. I've got off the up sleeper there before now. I think it used to be routed there as the only connection off it was for Gatwick off the old platform 4A! 

Admittedly it is a pretty rare event.  The only other time I've seen it was recently when only 7 and 8 were open for through trains because of the improvements and two up trains arrived close together.

[Oxman]

Platform 7 (the old platform 4) has always been bi di, well at least since Reading was last resignalled in the 60s! Actually, I think Brunel first made it bi di!

It was only used for up services at times of perturbation, which usually produced the reaction you described.

Also used occasionally for up services to the North Downs, particularly if a set swap was needed.

[JayMac]

That was the case this evening. Two up fasts arrived almost simultaneously on P7 and P8. The one that came in on 7, possibly 1L91 from Cheltenham Spa, was given the road ahead of the service that pulled in on 8.

Incidentally, this up train that surprised me on P7 was a 2+7 HST^▸ (High Speed Train). It was missing a coach G.

[Oxman]

Platform 7 is most often used for up services off the B&H^▸ (Berks and Hants - railway line from Reading to Taunton via Westbury), so you can get a simultaneous arrival with an up service from Didcot on Platform 8. The Platform 7 service gets priority to clear the platform for down services. And the number of passengers boarding on platform 7 is usually quite low!

[Jason]

What I'm thinking here is that having come up the ramps/stairs and over the subway, pedestrians will then have to turn immediately sharp right and go over towards the south side of Station Hill - in other words to cut across the worksite with barriers both right and left?

From the way things are currently shaping up it looks like your prediction is spot on !

[paul7575]

What I'm thinking here is that having come up the ramps/stairs and over the subway, pedestrians will then have to turn immediately sharp right and go over towards the south side of Station Hill - in other words to cut across the worksite with barriers both right and left?

From the way things are currently shaping up it looks like your prediction is spot on !

Scary isn't it!  Perhaps I should try the national lottery now...   

Paul

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Platform 7 (the old platform 4) has always been bi di, well at least since Reading was last resignalled in the 60s! Actually, I think Brunel first made it bi di!

It was only used for up services at times of perturbation, which usually produced the reaction you described.

Also used occasionally for up services to the North Downs, particularly if a set swap was needed.

I'm just wondering if P7 (old P4) has always been bi di for passenger trains, even if it has been for ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) etc.  I've got a vague recollection that the signal at the London end of this platform, with a new feather and a signalled route across to the UM, was installed more recently, maybe within the last 20 years.   

I agree it is not uncommon now for it to be used for Up passenger services.

[Electric train]

Platform 7 (the old platform 4) has always been bi di, well at least since Reading was last resignalled in the 60s! Actually, I think Brunel first made it bi di!

It was only used for up services at times of perturbation, which usually produced the reaction you described.

Also used occasionally for up services to the North Downs, particularly if a set swap was needed.

I'm just wondering if P7 (old P4) has always been bi di for passenger trains, even if it has been for ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) etc.  I've got a vague recollection that the signal at the London end of this platform, with a new feather and a signalled route across to the UM, was installed more recently, maybe within the last 20 years.   

I agree it is not uncommon now for it to be used for Up passenger services.

The signal may have been repositioned for sighting reasons when the passenger over bridge was installed

[bobm]

I am sure I have a photo somewhere but I think the signal at the London end of platform 7 has a theatre box rather than feather(s).

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Reading Chronicle:

Buses set for a boost from new look railway station



The completion of the multi-million pound transport interchange on the northern side of the new-look Reading Station will make a "huge difference" to the town's bus services.

The new bus, taxi, and cycle hub - one of two new interchanges being developed as part of the ^850m Reading Station upgrade - is taking shape off Vastern Road.

Reading Borough Council won ^9.6m from the Department of Transport towards the ^13.2m cost of creating the Vastern Road entrance area and another on the southern side of the station.

Reading Buses chief executive James Freeman said it will greatly benefit passengers travelling to and from the north of the town when buses begin using it in July and he added: "It will make a huge difference to passengers in Caversham, Peppard and Emmer Green, who have had a raw deal previously as buses have had to approach from the south side of the station. This will make it much quicker, meaning people can get straight to the platform. It will be fantastic railway serving the people of Reading and shows this is a place where you can get about without a car."

The company has already increased the number of buses on some of its routes in anticipation of the changes, including the Pink 22 and 24 running every 20 minutes from Caversham Heights from 5.30-7.15am and 5.25-7am respectively, the equivalent of a bus every 10 minutes from Caversham Library.

The company also launches a public consultation on Friday, March 1, canvassing views on what they think of the services so far and what improvements could be made.

Mr Freeman said: "It's always useful for people to give their impressions of how changes affect their journeys and they can pick up things we haven't always thought of."

Passengers will be able to respond online at www.reading-buses.co.uk or by completing paper forms available from its offices in Great Knollys Street.

[swrural]

Euurgh!  I know one other FGWCS correspondent who mourns the passing of the purple trolleys eh, BobM?

[JayMac]

One thing I do like about Reading Buses is the colour coding of their routes and buses. Makes for quick identification of your bus when more than one is at a stand, terminus or stop.

That pink one currently matches the polo top I'm wearing! 

[bobm]

One of my prized possessions is a destination blind from a Reading bus before they got all those new fangled electronic ones.  Best livery in Reading is the 20/21 - the claret is the closest they have to the old maroon livery of my youth.