Re: Reading Station Development - Consultation

On 2008-09-11 10:32:26 +0100, "Paul Scott" <notvalidpmscott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> said:


"Chris" <chrisjbates@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:a546843f-0325-4029-ba3b-801570ac0144@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Starts today.....go along & gain some knowledge, rather than
speculating into the future!

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/4664.aspx


Direct link to sketch of new layout :

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/documents/Consultation/5170_Reading_Area_Redevelopment_Plan.pdf

Previous

suggestions (Feb 2007 'final version!' - reported in MR IIRC) had
the freight bypass lines, and the new 'eastern chord' off the Newbury route
going over the main line, they appear to be in underpasses now...

Paul

I have just discovered this newsgroup and as I visited the exhibition in Reading Town Hall this afternoon I now have a good opportunity to write my first post.

I learnt from the Network Rail representatives at the exhibition that the exhibition concentrated more on the re-organisation of the tracks and roads; although outline designs for the new platform awings and station entrances and buildings have been floated in the local press over the last 18 months or so, no decisions have yet been taken. They hope that once the operational side has been accepted then the 'nice to haves' can be added later.
Following this series of 'show and tell' days Network Rail will firm up the details and make another series of presentations in about a year. One big change already adopted was that Cow Lane (which passes both under the west to south curve and the original GW main line will not be closed off by lowering the main lines, doing this would have permitted lower structures to be used for the flyovers west of the station. If the road had been closed then easy access for local residents from the Oxford Road area on one side of the railway to the industrial area of Richfield Avenue, the Leisure Centre, Caversham Bridge over the Thames and the main northerly traffic route around the town centre would have been lost. At the cost of a climb of some 7 metres for west-bound trains along the Great Westerm main line (as distinct from the relief lines) a large source of contention with the local population has been avoided.

It would appear that current planning will see work starting on building the addition relief line platforms to the north of the existing platforms 9 and 10 together with the new maintenance facilities to the north of the line between Reading and Tilehurst. When these works are completed, and the existing diesel maintenance depot closed, the new south to east flyunder lines will be built.

I understand that the new relief line platforms will accept a full-length Crossrail train (however long that will be - how long is a piece of string?) The existing down main used to hold 16 64 foot coaches and a Hall, Castle or King on summer Saturdays, although I am old enough to remember that the down starter was about 20 or 30 yards past the end of the platform ramp so the whole length could be used. If the new main platform islands are as long as the current ones then there should be no practical limits on passenger train length.

The whole concept seems well set to improve operation. Up trains off the Berks and Hants routed via Reading to the up main towards Paddington will be grade separated to the new Platforms 10 and 11 (and to new Platforms 12 to 15 for the relief lines) and therefore no longer conflict with down trains on the mains towards Didcot. Cross-country trains reversing at Reading can cross from the relief lines on the north of the layout to the south side (and vice versa) without crossing the mains on the flat. It is still planned to re-activate the old flyunder to the east of the station (originally used to connect the Southern to the long gone goods depots on the north side at Vastern Road). This would mean that, potentially, cross-country trains could be aimed once more at Guildford and points south, or that through Oxford-Gatwick trains could be introduced (in both cases assuming rolling stock becomes available) without crossing the main lines on the flat. This flat crossing was, I am certain, one of the reasons that the cross-country service to Guildford was abandoned - I can remember on several occasions that Voyagers would be held for 10 or 15 minutes waiting for a chance to cross to the Southern at Reading New Junction whilst a procession of HSTs passed on the mains. And all the time the Voyager occupied a platform and then followed an electric 'stopper' to Wokingham.

The other great improvement is that Reading will have effectively 3 platforms off the down main. With 3 minute headways from Paddington and only one down main platform (current No. 4) the second train was always held just outside Reading until the first one had finished its business. As this rarely took less than 3 or 4 minutes (especially with HSTs, Adelantes are quicker - power doors are worth at least 1000hp) the second train was always late off Reading and was then frequently delayed further by a conflicting move off the Berks and Hants. The result was that for the last 20 years or so the timetable has been a lie. Two successive down trains can now be routed into the new Platforms 8 and 9 alternatively - signalling permitting.

The only add-ons which I could think of would be an additional flyover from the down relief to the east of the station to the down main platform (current 4, new 7) which would mean all down Berks and Hants trains could be dealt with at the same platform making life easier for passengers and a flyover at Southcote Junction to disentangle the Basingstoke and Southampton trains (especially the Freightliners) from those to and from Newbury and points west including the Mendip minerals. However these ideas really are in the realm of pipe-dreams, but what has been proposed does not mean that they coul;d not be added in the future.

Robert


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Reading station works
    ... Reading have now climbed up to £780m. ... My impression is that both parts of the work have now been combined as to do the trackworks without the enhanced platform capacity really would have been nonense. ... The Reading rebuild will add an extra platform on the South Western trains side and a flyunder to the Relief Line platforms; the recently announced approval for the enhancements at Gatwick will mean that a 30 minute interval will now become possible. ...
    (uk.railway)
  • Re: Fatality at West Ealing
    ... It would have made sense to turn some services around at Reading to avoid adding to the backlog into Paddington and providing a service Westbound along the rest of the route. ... They did turn round some services at Reading but had the usual problem of trying to fit too many trains into too few platforms, and probably the standard problem of trying to fit stock, driver and guard to an appropriate alternative service. ... One HST sat in platform 8 for ages and was then pushed off onto the up relief before setting back onto the down goods and sulking. ... Eventually things started to move, but painfully slowly, and with the usual pantomime of last minute changes ("there will be a train from platform 10 calling at all stations to Slough" and once all were comfortably seated, "no, make that platform 6" - and it was still there when I left). ...
    (uk.railway)
  • Re: Reading station redevelopment
    ... The Up B&H line from Oxford Road Junction towards Reading station splits into two lines both of which dive under the Up and Down Main Lines just west of Reading Station - one is a reversible line which joins the Up and down Relief lines in a flat junction just to the west of the new Relief Line platforms and the other will run into the future Up Main platform loop on the new platform face on northern side of what is now the island for Platforms 9 and 10. ...
    (uk.railway)
  • Reading rebuild
    ... Waiting at Reading today many westbound trains were delayed with a queue building outside Reading. ... Trains were being replatformed all over the place with some requiring people to use the footbridge or subway to get to the correct platform. ... At the moment at Reading Platform 4 is the main platform used by trains from Paddington continuing west and I wondered what effect the rebuild will have, whether we will still watch people trying to scuttle at the last moment (because the westbound changes seem to occur at a signal only about half a mile from the station while eastbound changes seem to occur further away with more notice). ...
    (uk.railway)
  • Re: Reading station works
    ... Reading have now climbed up to £780m. ... My impression is that both parts of the work have now been combined as to do the trackworks without the enhanced platform capacity really would have been nonense. ... Although many will be making short journeys a lot of passengers at Reading travel with bags and/or children and buggies to points west from here. ... The Reading rebuild will add an extra platform on the South Western trains side and a flyunder to the Relief Line platforms; the recently announced approval for the enhancements at Gatwick will mean that a 30 minute interval will now become possible. ...
    (uk.railway)