Recent content by peterson

A recent local plan document included a line from the council stating that a planning application is expected this year for Brunel Arcade. So it must be fairly well advanced behind the scenes.

The Heathrow expansion proposal doc shared above and subsequent comments from the airport imply their view is that the connection to Waterloo is their priority, in terms of funding rail links to an expanded Heathrow, followed by the Western Link, followed lastly by the Woking southern link. I...

I hope this is accurate. Cross Country via Cheltenham or via Reading to reach Birmingham will still be quicker in many cases for the former, and very likely far cheaper for both. The consensus seemed to be it had to be everything or nothing that stopped at OOC? I wonder if they could find a way...

Thanks for the responses. I'm presuming that a redevelopment will inevitably mean less space for station facilities and retail. Although the fact that Network Rail hasn't just sold the whole site, along with their brief statement at the top, implies they see some part of the site remaining as a...

The Reading Borough local plan was updated last week. Some correspondence was made public including this from Network Rail: https://democracy.reading.gov.uk/documents/s32967/LocalPlanPartialUpdate-Appx3.pdf Can anyone "in the know" shed any light on what's being planned?

This doc proposes regular Reading to Salisbury services all week. Dependent on numerous infrastructure changes...

Possibly. But you wouldn't be on your train to your destination from Paddington if your destination was stations to Bracknell, to Guildford, to Basingstoke.... And via London is likely to be a higher price than East West Rail. Reading to MK/Bedford could provide a key link in a kind of outer...

Milton Keynes to Reading would be a very popular service. The Reading extension was included in early East West rail literature, but seemed to vanish. Presumably they're looking to keep things simple to start with.

pre-pandemic it had crept up to 4 trains per hour for extended peak times morning and evening with the odd random missing train. It had been stated as aiming to get to 4 tph all day. The extra trains omitted Earley, Winnersh in the way that the GWR to Gatwick does.

If that's the case, then might a suitable compromise be to retain day travelcards for families and railcard holders only?

As a typical off-peak travelcard user from Reading, I haven't used contactless tickets. Perhaps someone could explain... What would happen if I buy a GWR off-peak return to Paddington but then ride the Elizabeth Line back from Paddington during peak hours? (Common behaviour for families in...

Reading Borough Council objection in full: https://media.reading.gov.uk/news/council-objects-to-proposed-removal-of-one-day-travelcard-to-london

Reading biased view incoming, but it's great to see the Reading calls re-added to the evening peak services up to/through Oxford. With XC services now only hourly, and these GWRs passing through, the Reading to Oxford service has been poor. Oxford is the next major centre up the Thames Valley...

But Reading just has the raw passenger numbers to warrant the frequent connection to Birmingham. Its Entries/Exists are always right up the top of the passenger tables. And that's before you add in local connections within the conurbation (within top 20 in Eng) eg Wokingham. So I'm not sure the...

..and a new/enlarged road tunnel beneath the line as well for the new relief road. Agree, sounds expensive! I just wondered about the viability of accommodating an extra stop on the line as well. And whether 2500 homes really merits such a service.