Reading West Revamp

[RichT54]

If you haven't seen it before, this is the Tilehurst Road entrance. In my professional opinion, this is the end where most of the Anti Social Behaviour takes place. In part because it is quite a lengthy walk down from the Tilehurst Road, and in part because it is far way from the main part of the station. It is also rather well covered by the tree's and the fencing / lighting is pretty poor. All in all, it makes for a pretty grim path to walk down. I've had numerous calls over the years to this end of the station, so should be in the priority list.

The Oxford Road certainly is busy - it can often be a bit of a nightmare to drive along, with the volume of traffic, speed humps, poor road condition and number of crossing points all not helping. Something I fear that, by narrowing the road under the bridge, will be made worse by this proposal. What Reading Borough Council really needs to do is find a better way to divert some of the sheer volume of traffic away from the Oxford Road, be-it improvements to the Tilehurst Road or sending more traffic via Cow Lane / Richfield Avenue & the duel carriageway Caversham Road, but that's for a different thread.

51°27'07.6"N 0°59'29.9"W · Reading RG1 7TT

Reading RG1 7TT

goo.gl

On the council planning website there is a map of the site which has an insert at the bottom right showing the Tilehurst Road entrance which is labelled "Tilehurst Rd Gateline [Permitted Development]" - does that imply it will have barriers?

 

[fgwrich]

On the council planning website there is a map of the site which has an insert at the bottom right showing the Tilehurst Road entrance which is labelled "Tilehurst Rd Gateline [Permitted Development]" - does that imply it will have barriers?

Presumably so - Potentially a staffed hut then, as a barrier with remote camera would not be a suitable deterrent in my opinion - most of Reading West's "regulars" will have some experience of jumping a barrier or just simply pushing through them. However, I'm actually quite surprised that RBC have quite openly posted the location of the Anti-Trespass Security Cameras on that application! (Bangs head against wall)

 

[reddragon]

Has anyone actually looked at that picture?

The cars are driving on the right & the picture is reversed!

That footpath has a very heavy footfall and even today, is too narrow for the high pedestrian traffic volume.

 

[Non Multi]

Has anyone actually looked at that picture?

The cars are driving on the right & the picture is reversed!

That footpath has a very heavy footfall and even today, is too narrow for the high pedestrian traffic volume.

The BBC flipped the image on their article in error. The same picture can be found the correct way round on the council's Twitter post: https://mobile.twitter.com/ReadingCouncil/status/1318465597500510209

 

[CarltonA]

Has anyone actually looked at that picture?

The cars are driving on the right & the picture is reversed!

I pointed that out in the original post as it happens.

 

[RichT54]

The BBC have finally got it the right way round in their later story Reading West station design 'looks like shipping container' where they report on some of the objections that have been raised.

 

[RPI]

[1] According to the documents there is an agreement with the appropriate trades unions that a minimum of two staff members should be present at each gateline when it is in operation. A separate gateline for each platform would therefore require four members of staff so doubling staffing costs which - giving the volume of passengers - would be unaffordable.

not quite correct, if one of the gatelines were remotely operated then it could be done with two staff, as is the case at Exeter Central, Truro, Weston-super-Mare and was at Taunton.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Interesting that GWR have that rule, as LNR often single-man gates at quiet stations.

 

[RPI]

Interesting that GWR have that rule, as LNR often single-man gates at quiet stations.

I believe a lot of other TOC's gateline staff don't issue tickets/penalty fares etc whereas GWR do. There are a few GWR stations where single staffing is in place during certain times of the day, during these times the single member of staff won't conduct any ticket selling duties.

 

[Bungle158]

Back in the day, Reading West was a godsend for shall we say, cheap excursions. Particularly useful when cross country services called there. The access from Tilehurst Road was particularly hard to police, but a similar challenge at Exeter Central has been effectively controlled using remote barriers. With regard to the Oxford Road entrances, the location and setup of the site, makes it difficult to see how an effective and aesthetically pleasing solution can be found without spending unjustified sums of money.

 

[yorkie]

Some of these suggestions should be in the Speculative Ideas forum ...

Agreed.

Just a gentle reminder to all that any ideas, suggestions etc should be posted exclusively in our Speculative Ideas section please.

This applies regardless of how viable the suggestions are

If you wish to speculate please create a new thread (if there isn't one already) it use an existing thread, if there is one.

If you see any off topic content, if you can report the first off topic post and include in your report the details of any subsequent off topic posts, we may be able to move them.

Thanks

 

[Bread & cheese]

The design of the new station building has now been modified.
From http://news.reading.gov.uk/latest-updated-designs-for-reading-west-station/

"Latest designs show a brand new station building with a distinctive brick and glass exterior. The footpath immediately in front of the new station building has also been widened to make access easier for both passengers using the station, and for pedestrians walking past."

 

[EcsWhyZee]

Massive change, much better!

Why did they even show the first one?!

 

[coppercapped]

Massive change, much better!

Why did they even show the first one?!

I don't know how the original design reached the light of day but Reading has recently appointed a full time Conservation and Urban Design Officer - the first for 33 years(!) - and he had something to say on the matter.

 

[MarkyT]

The design of the new station building has now been modified.
From http://news.reading.gov.uk/latest-updated-designs-for-reading-west-station/


View attachment 86662

Much better!

 

[swt_passenger]

Massive change, much better!

Why did they even show the first one?!

To generate massive objections, enabling the more expensive option to be justified?

 

[MarkyT]

To generate massive objections, enabling the more expensive option to be justified?

Hasn't changed THAT much. Predominantly a surface finish issue. Not sure how they've widened the pavement though. Perhaps the building depth has shrunk a little, or the road carriageway narrowed?

 

[swt_passenger]

Hasn't changed THAT much. Predominantly a surface finish issue. Not sure how they've widened the pavement though. Perhaps the building depth has shrunk a little, or the road carriageway narrowed?

I think they’ve possibly narrowed the whole carriageway, potentially by taking a bit off the eastbound pavement?

 

[Roast Veg]

I don't know how the original design reached the light of day but Reading has recently appointed a full time Conservation and Urban Design Officer - the first for 33 years(!) - and he had something to say on the matter.

How recently? Was he appointed just for the purposes of calling out this architectural disasterpiece?

 

[RichT54]

The revised plan has been granted planning permission.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-55664318

A £3.1m upgrade of a train station has been granted planning permission.
The plans for Reading West feature a new glass and brick building which includes a ticket office, public toilets and a small shop.
Secure ticket barriers, a new CCTV system and lighting are also expected be constructed at the Oxford Road site in a bid to improve security.
Reading Borough Council said the building work could begin in March and would take about a year to complete.

Deputy leader Tony Page said the upgrade was "long overdue".
"The station is in a poor state of repair after decades of underinvestment, despite significant usage, with nearly 500,000 passenger journeys a year," he added.
"It's as busy as Tilehurst Station, but it remains very much the Cinderella station in the Reading area."
The original plan, submitted by Great Western Railway, was changed after some critics said the proposed station building looked like "a shipping container on the pavement".

 

[matt]

Thread re-opened for @crablab to post an update

 

[crablab]

So work on this has begun. Oxford Road has had roadworks for utilities to be moved for the last few months, but recently a more extensive compound has been set up. The foundations have now been laid.

The Tilehurst Road entrance has now closed, with significant earthworks taking place on the 'slope' down to the platform, and the embankment. From the plans, they are putting the Tilehurst Road ticket office broadly where there is currently the brick wall with a sign on it. That will require some kind of structure or building up of the embankment.

Pictures attached I'll post some more updates as things progress.

Pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/a4SBXFBabyohwRL78

 

[ChewChewTrain]

Oxford Road already has many traffic calming measures along its length and the footways under the bridge were widened some years ago so narrowing the carriageway. I suggest that the proposed changes in road width under the railway bridge will, in practice, have a negligible effect on traffic speeds and journey times as the Council has also in many places along the road and for many years been building out the kerbs and adding humps and traffic islands to narrow the carriageway to one lane in each direction in accordance with Council and Government policies to reduce car use.

I would have thought that posters on a railway enthusiasts forum would have approved!

Am I the only one who likes trains and cars, and would prefer them to improve the former rather than deliberately worsening the latter if they want to encourage modal shift? Let’s not forget that driving is the only practical option for some people; should their journeys be purposely lengthened and made more stressful?

 

[coppercapped]

Am I the only one who likes trains and cars, and would prefer them to improve the former rather than deliberately worsening the latter if they want to encourage modal shift? Let’s not forget that driving is the only practical option for some people; should their journeys be purposely lengthened and made more stressful?

Hear, hear!

 

[MarkyT]

Am I the only one who likes trains and cars, and would prefer them to improve the former rather than deliberately worsening the latter if they want to encourage modal shift? Let’s not forget that driving is the only practical option for some people; should their journeys be purposely lengthened and made more stressful?

When I first lived in that part of Reading in the mid-1980s, Oxford Road had masses of mini-roundabouts, at nearly every intersection with side roads I think. These really slowed traffic down, but most were removed over the following decades. The more modern measures were introduced to increase space for pedestrians in places and improve their safety at crossings. I think they also took out some bus bays at various stops. On balance, I'd say it was no worse today for motorists than it was over 30 years ago, although of course more traffic may have made queues worse at peak times. The much improved Cow Lane link under the main line west of the station has in fact introduced a relief road for some traffic from the west, especially larger trucks which wouldn't fit through the old bridges and used to race along Oxford Road in the early hours on deliveries, waking me up sometimes.

 

[crablab]

The steel framework is starting to go up. It feels smaller than the illustrations, although I suppose once all the brickwork etc. is done it'll fill out the space. The steelwork is attached to the brick abutment of the bridge.

 

[crablab]

A photo from a few weeks ago of the Tilehurst Road entrance. You can see how they've progressed and I believe the concrete has been poured now.

The Oxford Road entrance looks fairly similar to before, just with more steel. It's coming along nicely though.

 

[Tw99]

Am I the only one who likes trains and cars, and would prefer them to improve the former rather than deliberately worsening the latter if they want to encourage modal shift? Let’s not forget that driving is the only practical option for some people; should their journeys be purposely lengthened and made more stressful?

It wasn't clear at the time that these original comments were made, but the road has since been realigned under the rail bridge. Effectively they've stolen the space from a very wide pavement on the north side to make room for the new ticket office on the south side pavement. So it's a rare example of a traffic scheme that RBC have not totally messed up

 

[Bread & cheese]

The GWR news website has photographs showing the progress of the building works.
The first photo shows three people in hi-vis vests standing under the steel framework of a building. This steel framework has a metal roof.

The second photo, taken from the other side of Oxford Road, shows this framework running at right angles to the rail overbridge above.


https://news.gwr.com/news/new-station-building-takes-shape-as-part-of-reading-west-transformation

 

[crablab]

And some photos from the Tilehurst Road entrance, showing the poured concrete and the start of the upper steelwork.

They're also resurfaced part of the pavement they dug up, although I hope it isn't the final surface.

Let’s not forget that driving is the only practical option for some people; should their journeys be purposely lengthened and made more stressful?

I'm not sure that driving down Oxford Road is the "only practical" option.

Oxford Road (up to the Tilehurst roundabout) would be significantly improved IMHO by making it a permanent bus & cycle lane (ideally a tramway for the 17, but that's a separate discussion) with local access for deliveries etc. if _really_ needed.

Then you wouldn't have all these cars getting in the way and delaying everyone else who is walking, cycling or on the bus

There are always comments that people "would use public transport more if it was better", but the same people don't like the interventions that achieve that goal (at a macro scale, HS2). There is a finite amount of space, if you want to reallocate it to active travel and public transport then it has to be taken away from cars - no bad thing and we'll all be the better for it.