Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Reading railway station
Reading railway station is a major transport hub in the town of Reading in Berkshire, England, it is 36 miles (58 km) west of London Paddington. It is sited on the northern edge of the town centre, near to the main retail and commercial areas and the River Thames. It is the busiest station in Berkshire, and the third busiest in South East England.
Reading is the ninth busiest railway station in the UK outside London and the second busiest interchange station outside London.
The station is managed by Network Rail and is served by four train operating companies: Great Western Railway, CrossCountry, South Western Railway and the Elizabeth line.
The first Reading station was opened on 30 March 1840 as the temporary western terminus of the original line of the Great Western Railway (GWR). 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 built, Reading station was a typical 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.
In 1844, the Great Western Hotel was opened across the Forbury Road for people visiting the town. It is thought to be the oldest surviving railway hotel in the world. New routes soon joined the London to Bristol line, with the line from Reading to Newbury and Hungerford opening in 1847, and the line to Basingstoke in 1848.
Between 1865 and 1867, a station building, built of buff bricks from Coalbrookdale with Bath Stone dressings, and incorporating a tower and clock, was constructed for the Great Western Railway. Sources differ as to whether this was a new building, or remodelling of an earlier Brunel building. In 1898 the single sided station layout was replaced by four new island platforms and six bay platforms bringing the total number to ten. The old platform (Platform 1) served the down main line and was widened to 60 ft (18 m) to contain most of the station's amenities as well as three 400 ft-long (120 m) bay platforms at its western end that served Basingstoke and Newbury traffic. Platform 4 served the up main line as one side of a new 1,150 ft (350 m) island platform. The other side, platform 5, became the down line's relief platform. At 50 ft (15 m) across, the island was wide enough to contain refreshment, waiting and cloak rooms as well as a bay platform at each end. The bay at the eastern end (4 East Bay) was for stopping services to London while the west bay (5 West Bay) received Oxford trains. Separated by the down relief loop (fast through line), platform 6 served up relief traffic while its own bay (6 East) at the London end received traffic from the various Great Western branches in the Thames Valley. A string of offices for station staff were built on the other side of the 900 ft (270 m) island to shield passengers from the up and down goods lines that ran adjacent to them. For non-stopping trains, an up loop was laid between platforms 1 and 4 but this was used as a carriage siding until 1908. No down loop was laid for the main line so through trains either had to use the down relief loop or slow down to 40 mph (64 km/h) while passing through the station. A 240 ft (73 m) pedestrian subway was dug to connect these new platforms and at the other end, access was enabled from the north for the first time in the form of a booking office on Caversham road. Access to the platforms was provided by hydraulic lifts powered by water from a new pumping station opened by the Vastern Road bridge. In January 1899 a new booking office was opened in the main station building and all three of Reading's signal boxes were rebuilt.
Access to the station from Broad Street was not direct, until Queen Victoria Street was built in 1903. This provided a route through to Friar Street and Station Road.
The station was originally named Reading and became Reading General on 26 September 1949 to distinguish it from the neighbouring ex-South Eastern Railway station. The "General" suffix was dropped from British Rail timetables in 1973, but some of the station nameboards still stated "Reading General" in 1974. The juxtaposition of the two stations meant that the town's buses showed the destination 'Stations'.
Hub AI
Reading railway station AI simulator
(@Reading railway station_simulator)
Reading railway station
Reading railway station is a major transport hub in the town of Reading in Berkshire, England, it is 36 miles (58 km) west of London Paddington. It is sited on the northern edge of the town centre, near to the main retail and commercial areas and the River Thames. It is the busiest station in Berkshire, and the third busiest in South East England.
Reading is the ninth busiest railway station in the UK outside London and the second busiest interchange station outside London.
The station is managed by Network Rail and is served by four train operating companies: Great Western Railway, CrossCountry, South Western Railway and the Elizabeth line.
The first Reading station was opened on 30 March 1840 as the temporary western terminus of the original line of the Great Western Railway (GWR). 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 built, Reading station was a typical 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.
In 1844, the Great Western Hotel was opened across the Forbury Road for people visiting the town. It is thought to be the oldest surviving railway hotel in the world. New routes soon joined the London to Bristol line, with the line from Reading to Newbury and Hungerford opening in 1847, and the line to Basingstoke in 1848.
Between 1865 and 1867, a station building, built of buff bricks from Coalbrookdale with Bath Stone dressings, and incorporating a tower and clock, was constructed for the Great Western Railway. Sources differ as to whether this was a new building, or remodelling of an earlier Brunel building. In 1898 the single sided station layout was replaced by four new island platforms and six bay platforms bringing the total number to ten. The old platform (Platform 1) served the down main line and was widened to 60 ft (18 m) to contain most of the station's amenities as well as three 400 ft-long (120 m) bay platforms at its western end that served Basingstoke and Newbury traffic. Platform 4 served the up main line as one side of a new 1,150 ft (350 m) island platform. The other side, platform 5, became the down line's relief platform. At 50 ft (15 m) across, the island was wide enough to contain refreshment, waiting and cloak rooms as well as a bay platform at each end. The bay at the eastern end (4 East Bay) was for stopping services to London while the west bay (5 West Bay) received Oxford trains. Separated by the down relief loop (fast through line), platform 6 served up relief traffic while its own bay (6 East) at the London end received traffic from the various Great Western branches in the Thames Valley. A string of offices for station staff were built on the other side of the 900 ft (270 m) island to shield passengers from the up and down goods lines that ran adjacent to them. For non-stopping trains, an up loop was laid between platforms 1 and 4 but this was used as a carriage siding until 1908. No down loop was laid for the main line so through trains either had to use the down relief loop or slow down to 40 mph (64 km/h) while passing through the station. A 240 ft (73 m) pedestrian subway was dug to connect these new platforms and at the other end, access was enabled from the north for the first time in the form of a booking office on Caversham road. Access to the platforms was provided by hydraulic lifts powered by water from a new pumping station opened by the Vastern Road bridge. In January 1899 a new booking office was opened in the main station building and all three of Reading's signal boxes were rebuilt.
Access to the station from Broad Street was not direct, until Queen Victoria Street was built in 1903. This provided a route through to Friar Street and Station Road.
The station was originally named Reading and became Reading General on 26 September 1949 to distinguish it from the neighbouring ex-South Eastern Railway station. The "General" suffix was dropped from British Rail timetables in 1973, but some of the station nameboards still stated "Reading General" in 1974. The juxtaposition of the two stations meant that the town's buses showed the destination 'Stations'.