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{{Infobox UK station|name = Reading|image = |manager = First Great Western|borough = [Reading, Berkshire|code = RDG|usage0405 = 13.297|usage0506 = 13.570|platforms = 12|start =
1840-->
Reading railway station (formerly
Reading General) is a major rail transport hub in the large town of
Reading, Berkshire in southern central England. It is situated on the northern edge of the town centre, some 5 minutes' walk from the main retail and commercial areas, and close to the
River Thames. Adjacent to the railway station is a bus interchange, served by most of Reading's urban and rural bus services.
Reading is a major junction point on the National Rail system, and as a consequence the railway station is a major transfer point as well as serving heavy originating and terminating traffic.
Services
The main rail route served by the station is the Great Western Main Line, which runs west from London's
Paddington station before splitting to the west of Reading station into two lines, one serving the West Country, and the other
Bristol,
Bath, Somerset,
Newport and
Cardiff. Services on these lines are operated by First Great Western, and all services stop at Reading.
Other main lines connect Reading with
Birmingham (serving both Birmingham New Street Station and
Birmingham International railway station stations), northern England and
Scotland to the north, and with Winchester, Hampshire,
Southampton and Bournemouth to the south. Through services from north to south on these lines are operated by Virgin Trains, and all services, other than a few special summer-only services, stop in Reading.
The secondary
North Downs Line connects Reading with
Guildford and
London Gatwick Airport. Services on this line, together with local stopping services to Basingstoke,
Newbury, Berkshire,
Great Bedwyn,
Oxford and London Paddington, are also operated by
First Great Western. Direct services to Brighton via Basingstoke are provided every few hours by South West Trains. An electric suburban line operated by South West Trains links Reading to Waterloo station. An express bus service operated by First Great Western links Reading with
London Heathrow Airport.
These services are summarised in the following table:
History
Reading station opened on the March 30
1840 as the temporary western terminus of the original line of the
Great Western Railway. At a stroke the time taken to travel from London to Reading was reduced to one hour and five minutes, less than a quarter of the time taken by the fastest
stagecoach. The line was extended to its intended terminus at Bristol in 1841. As constructed, Reading station was a typical Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed single-sided intermediate station, with separate up and down platforms situated to the south of the through tracks and arranged so that all up trains calling at Reading had to cross the route of all down through trains.
New routes soon joined the London to Bristol line, with the line from Reading to
Newbury, Berkshire and Hungerford opening in 1847, and the line to Basingstoke in 1848. In 1849 the
South Eastern Railway (UK) reached Reading with a line from
Guildford and Reigate, initially serving a temporary station at North Forbury before moving into its own separate permanent terminal station, just to the south-east of the Great Western station, in
1855. In
1856 the London and South Western Railway opened a line from its London terminus at Waterloo station to
Wokingham, with its trains continuing over the South Eastern line to that railway's terminus in Reading.
At some time between
1859 and 1865, the
Great Western Signal Works were constructed on lower ground to the north of the station. These works grew until by 1872 they were employing 500 men and producing most of the signalling equipment used by the Great Western Railway. The signal works continued in existence until
1984.
In
1860 a new station building, in Bath Stone and incorporating a tower and clock, was constructed for the Great Western Railway. In
1898 the single sided station was replaced by a conventional design with 'up', 'down' and 'relief' platforms linked by a pedestrian subway.
T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) lost the 250,000-word first draft of his
Seven Pillars of Wisdom at the station when he left his briefcase while changing trains in 1919. Working from memory, as he had destroyed his notes after completion of the first draft, he then completed a 400,000-word second draft in three months.
German aircraft tried to bomb the lines in to the station during the beginning of World War 2.
In 1965 Reading Southern, the South Eastern station, was closed, and the services using it diverted into a newly constructed terminal platform in the General station. A second terminal platform serving the same line was opened in
1975 for the commencement of the service from Reading to
Gatwick Airport.
For some years the site of the South Eastern station was used as the station car park. However in 1989 a brand new station concourse, included a shopping arcade named for Brunel, opened on the western end of the old South Eastern station site, linked to the platforms of the main station by a new footbridge. At the same time a new multi-level station car park was built on the site of the former goods yard and signal works to the north of the station, and linked to the same footbridge. The station facilities in the 1860 station building were converted into the
Three Guineas public house.
On
October 23,
1993, an Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb exploded at a signal post near the station, some hours after 5 lb (2 kg) of Semtex was found in the toilets of the station. The resulting closure of the railway line and evacuation of the station caused travel chaos for several hours, but no-one was injured.
Current layout
]
- Platform 1,2,3 - West facing bay platforms. Used for local services to Basingstoke, Newbury and Bedwyn. Virgin trains services from Bournemouth to Birmingham
- Platform 4 - Fast services from Paddington to the West
- Platform 4a, 4b - Bay platforms connected only to North Downs line. Used for services on North Downs line and to London Waterloo
- Platform 5 - Fast services to Paddington
- Platform 6 - East facing bay platform. Used for terminating local services from London Paddington
- Platform 7 - West facing bay platform. Used for terminating Virgin Trains services from Birmingham
- Platform 8 - Local services from Paddington to Oxford. Also used for Virgin Trains services from Birmingham to Bournemouth
- Platform 9 - Local services from Oxford to Paddington
- Platform 10 - East facing bay platform. Rarely used
Future
To serve the traffic described above, Reading Station currently has four through-platforms and eight terminal platforms. The limited number of through-platforms, together with flat junctions immediately east and west of the station, and the fact that north-south trains need to reverse direction in the station, render the station an acknowledged bottleneck with passenger trains often needing to wait outside the station for a platform to become available.
Plans were produced by Railtrack for a major redevelopment of the station, with rail track on two levels. Since the demise of Railtrack and its replacement by Network Rail, the status of these plans is unclear. There is sufficient space for extra through platforms on the north side of the station, and even a disused rail underpass at the junction to the east, and there have been suggestions in the press to use these for a quicker and cheaper solution. The local Unitary Council announced a scheme projected to cost £78 million early in 2006. Meanwhile the problems have been mitigated by the introduction of more frequent but shorter trains on Virgin Trains' routes, which are able to use the shorter terminal platforms rather than using a through platform for reversing.
Irrespective of railway developments, but likely to be accelerated by them, local authority plans show a comprehensive redevelopment of the area between the town centre and the river, including the station, by
2020.
In July 2007, in its white paper
Delivering a Sustainable Railway, the government announced plans to improve traffic flow at Reading, specifically mentioned along with
Birmingham New Street station as "key congestion pinch-points" which would share investment worth £600 million.
External links
References
{{Infobox UK station|name = Reading|image = |manager =
First Great Western|borough = [Reading, Berkshire|code = RDG|usage0405 = 13.297|usage0506 = 13.570|platforms = 12|start =
1840-->
Reading railway station (formerly
Reading General) is a major rail transport hub in the large town of
Reading, Berkshire in southern central England. It is situated on the northern edge of the town centre, some 5 minutes' walk from the main retail and commercial areas, and close to the
River Thames. Adjacent to the railway station is a bus interchange, served by most of Reading's urban and rural bus services.
Reading is a major junction point on the
National Rail system, and as a consequence the railway station is a major transfer point as well as serving heavy originating and terminating traffic.
Services
The main rail route served by the station is the Great Western Main Line, which runs west from London's
Paddington station before splitting to the west of Reading station into two lines, one serving the
West Country, and the other Bristol,
Bath, Somerset, Newport and Cardiff. Services on these lines are operated by
First Great Western, and all services stop at Reading.
Other main lines connect Reading with Birmingham (serving both
Birmingham New Street Station and
Birmingham International railway station stations), northern England and Scotland to the north, and with
Winchester, Hampshire, Southampton and Bournemouth to the south. Through services from north to south on these lines are operated by Virgin Trains, and all services, other than a few special summer-only services, stop in Reading.
The secondary North Downs Line connects Reading with
Guildford and London Gatwick Airport. Services on this line, together with local stopping services to Basingstoke,
Newbury, Berkshire, Great Bedwyn,
Oxford and London Paddington, are also operated by First Great Western. Direct services to
Brighton via
Basingstoke are provided every few hours by South West Trains. An electric suburban line operated by
South West Trains links Reading to
Waterloo station. An express bus service operated by First Great Western links Reading with
London Heathrow Airport.
These services are summarised in the following table:
History
Reading station opened on the March 30
1840 as the temporary western terminus of the original line of the
Great Western Railway. At a stroke the time taken to travel from London to Reading was reduced to one hour and five minutes, less than a quarter of the time taken by the fastest stagecoach. The line was extended to its intended terminus at Bristol in 1841. As constructed, Reading station was a typical Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed single-sided intermediate station, with separate up and down platforms situated to the south of the through tracks and arranged so that all up trains calling at Reading had to cross the route of all down through trains.
New routes soon joined the London to Bristol line, with the line from Reading to Newbury, Berkshire and
Hungerford opening in
1847, and the line to Basingstoke in 1848. In 1849 the South Eastern Railway (UK) reached Reading with a line from
Guildford and
Reigate, initially serving a temporary station at North Forbury before moving into its own separate permanent terminal station, just to the south-east of the Great Western station, in 1855. In 1856 the London and South Western Railway opened a line from its London terminus at
Waterloo station to
Wokingham, with its trains continuing over the South Eastern line to that railway's terminus in Reading.
At some time between
1859 and
1865, the Great Western Signal Works were constructed on lower ground to the north of the station. These works grew until by 1872 they were employing 500 men and producing most of the signalling equipment used by the Great Western Railway. The signal works continued in existence until
1984.
In
1860 a new station building, in Bath Stone and incorporating a tower and clock, was constructed for the Great Western Railway. In 1898 the single sided station was replaced by a conventional design with 'up', 'down' and 'relief' platforms linked by a pedestrian subway.
T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) lost the 250,000-word first draft of his Seven Pillars of Wisdom at the station when he left his briefcase while changing trains in 1919. Working from memory, as he had destroyed his notes after completion of the first draft, he then completed a 400,000-word second draft in three months.
German aircraft tried to bomb the lines in to the station during the beginning of World War 2.
In
1965 Reading Southern, the South Eastern station, was closed, and the services using it diverted into a newly constructed terminal platform in the General station. A second terminal platform serving the same line was opened in
1975 for the commencement of the service from Reading to
Gatwick Airport.
For some years the site of the South Eastern station was used as the station car park. However in
1989 a brand new station concourse, included a shopping arcade named for Brunel, opened on the western end of the old South Eastern station site, linked to the platforms of the main station by a new footbridge. At the same time a new multi-level station car park was built on the site of the former goods yard and signal works to the north of the station, and linked to the same footbridge. The station facilities in the 1860 station building were converted into the
Three Guineas public house.
On October 23, 1993, an Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb exploded at a signal post near the station, some hours after 5 lb (2 kg) of
Semtex was found in the toilets of the station. The resulting closure of the railway line and evacuation of the station caused travel chaos for several hours, but no-one was injured.
Current layout
]
- Platform 1,2,3 - West facing bay platforms. Used for local services to Basingstoke, Newbury and Bedwyn. Virgin trains services from Bournemouth to Birmingham
- Platform 4 - Fast services from Paddington to the West
- Platform 4a, 4b - Bay platforms connected only to North Downs line. Used for services on North Downs line and to London Waterloo
- Platform 5 - Fast services to Paddington
- Platform 6 - East facing bay platform. Used for terminating local services from London Paddington
- Platform 7 - West facing bay platform. Used for terminating Virgin Trains services from Birmingham
- Platform 8 - Local services from Paddington to Oxford. Also used for Virgin Trains services from Birmingham to Bournemouth
- Platform 9 - Local services from Oxford to Paddington
- Platform 10 - East facing bay platform. Rarely used
Future
To serve the traffic described above, Reading Station currently has four through-platforms and eight terminal platforms. The limited number of through-platforms, together with flat junctions immediately east and west of the station, and the fact that north-south trains need to reverse direction in the station, render the station an acknowledged bottleneck with passenger trains often needing to wait outside the station for a platform to become available.
Plans were produced by
Railtrack for a major redevelopment of the station, with rail track on two levels. Since the demise of Railtrack and its replacement by Network Rail, the status of these plans is unclear. There is sufficient space for extra through platforms on the north side of the station, and even a disused rail underpass at the junction to the east, and there have been suggestions in the press to use these for a quicker and cheaper solution. The local Unitary Council announced a scheme projected to cost £78 million early in 2006. Meanwhile the problems have been mitigated by the introduction of more frequent but shorter trains on Virgin Trains' routes, which are able to use the shorter terminal platforms rather than using a through platform for reversing.
Irrespective of railway developments, but likely to be accelerated by them, local authority plans show a comprehensive redevelopment of the area between the town centre and the river, including the station, by 2020.
In July 2007, in its
white paper Delivering a Sustainable Railway, the government announced plans to improve traffic flow at Reading, specifically mentioned along with
Birmingham New Street station as "key congestion pinch-points" which would share investment worth £600 million.
External links
References
Reading railway station - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reading railway station (formerly Reading General) is a major rail transport hub in Reading - the largest town in England. It is situated on the northern edge of the town centre ...
Reading West railway station - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reading West is a railway station in Reading in England. It is situated in West Reading, to the west of the town centre, about one mile from the main retail and commercial areas.
Reading railway station secures planning consent
Reading Borough Council has granted planning permission for the first privately-funded railway station in southern England for 50 years. GreenPark station will serve the new south ...
St Joseph's Convent School
Buses from Reading Railway Station stop frequently by St Joseph's and several buses from around Reading stop within walking distance of the school.
Maps and how to find the University of Reading - University of Reading
Reading's railway station has high speed links to and from London Paddington, as well as regular services to and from other cities around the UK.
Geographical location of the university of reading - University of ...
Reading's railway station has high speed links to and from London Paddington, as well as regular services to and from other cities around the UK.
How to find Reading Borough Council - Civic Centre - Reading Borough ...
St Marys Butts (the closest to the Civic Centre) Reading Railway Station; Both are clearly marked so it is easy to find your way back to the Madejski Stadium; From the St Marys Butts ...
Planning Application Submitted for Reading GreenPark Railway Station
press release Planning Application Submitted for Reading GreenPark Railway Station PRUPIM has submitted a planning application to Reading Borough Council for Reading GreenPark ...
Railway Station
READ 4018 (01_Railway Sta).qxd
Bed and Breakfast: The Old Railway Station, Coltishall, Norfolk.
The Reading / TV Room Click for larger image. The Old Railway Station has been sympathetically restored, preserving its original Victorian features but with the addition of three ...
