Airtrack and Reading station

[Goldfish62]

Now that Airtrack has stalled and is could very well be dead, I'm wondering if this will result in any changes to the Reading redevelopment. Currently, there would be a third platform for Waterloo/Airtrack services, with Gatwick services diverted to the other side of the station via the reopened underpass. Without Airtrack the "Southern" services do not need 3 dedicated platforms.

One possibility, I suppose, is to ditch the underpass and the Gatwick and SWT services share the 3 southern platforms. This would still allow for increases in the Waterloo services in the future.

 

[The Planner]

Nothing has changed as far as Im aware, the underpass is still in the plans.

 

[route:oxford]

Nothing has changed as far as Im aware, the underpass is still in the plans.

Looking from both on-train and from shopping in the Tesco store in Reading, a significant amount of work is going on around the underpass area.

Surely freight services will also benefit from the underpass and as such will mitigate the current issues with conflicting movements across the up throat of Reading Station.

Out of interest... How "tight" is the Underpass? From above and alongside it looks like it would be a very sharp curve entering and exiting it. Will it be single track?

 

[kestrel]

Don't think Airtrack is dead, its a relatively cheap fix, jus need to sort out crossing problems Staines to Clapham junc', one way is to do a shared service the same as we do with FGW with the Connect, there's a meeting in October more information should come after then, but defo not Dead

 

[swt_passenger]

Out of interest... How "tight" is the Underpass? From above and alongside it looks like it would be a very sharp curve entering and exiting it. Will it be single track?

The future track layout drawings I've got show it as only single track.

 

[mrcheek]

I heard the biggest issue with Airtrack was the number of level crossings on the route. Extra services would mean that some of these crossings would be closed for 30 minutes out of every hour at peak times, causing severe traffic problems in already congested areas.

 

[swt_passenger]

Don't think Airtrack is dead, its a relatively cheap fix, jus need to sort out crossing problems Staines to Clapham junc', one way is to do a shared service the same as we do with FGW with the Connect, there's a meeting in October more information should come after then, but defo not Dead

According to BAA's website the TWA enquiry is now deferred until after the Government's comprehensive spending review. The latter is due in the autumn, but I though BAA were basically paying for Airtrack from their own piggy bank?

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I heard the biggest issue with Airtrack was the number of level crossings on the route. Extra services would mean that some of these crossings would be closed for 30 minutes out of every hour at peak times, causing severe traffic problems in already congested areas.

Definitely a huge issue. There are whole reports on the Airtrack website discussing the issues, such as this one:

Airtrack Environmental Statement Volume 2

 

[jopsuk]

Doesn't it affect the constituency of the Transport Minister? A man who has apparently asked his department, since coming to office, why it is that cars have to stop for trains, rather than the other way round...

 

[mrcheek]

Doesn't it affect the constituency of the Transport Minister? A man who has apparently asked his department, since coming to office, why it is that cars have to stop for trains, rather than the other way round...

Theres a difference between cars having to stop occasionally, and cars being stopped for 30 minutes out of every hour on a busy road.

 

[jopsuk]

Indeed- but the way I understood it is that he seemed to think that trains could slow down and wait their turn like at normal traffic lights. I've recently been wondering about timings on crossings anyway- there's one that I get stopped at if I'm a bit slow on the way home from work, often five minutes (I time it...) before a train appears from the lights going red.

 

[SignalEngineer]

Indeed- but the way I understood it is that he seemed to think that trains could slow down and wait their turn like at normal traffic lights. I've recently been wondering about timings on crossings anyway- there's one that I get stopped at if I'm a bit slow on the way home from work, often five minutes (I time it...) before a train appears from the lights going red.

There are various types of crossings on the UK network. From a timing perspective the distinguishing factor is if it is Manual or Automatic.

Automatic Crossings (either half barrier or no barriers) only require approx 20-30 secs (It's specified in the RSSB regulations I believe) of gates down before train crosses over. In this instance the crossing is NOT protected by a signal. Some of these the driver of the train must check the crossing has operated (there is a local indication) before proceeding through... others which are alarmed back (for crossing failure) to a signal box, the train runs through at line speed (there's little chance of stopping if car stops on a crossing for example).

Manual Crossings. These are operated manually by a crossing attendent/signalliner on site, or remotely from a signal box. These crossings are protected by signals (for the train I mean) and the signal cannot be cleared until the crossing is checked to see that all gates are down and crossing is clear of obstructions (either on site or remotely via CCTV). Crossings will have full barriers (or manually operated gates). For efficient operation of the railway we do NOT wish the driver of the train to have to slow down for the crossing, hence it's desired to have the protecting signal cleared before the train arrives at it (in fact it has to be cleared well in advance for multi-aspect signals such that preceeding signals do not show caution, in order to do this the time the barriers are down are longer (usually 2-3 mins , again there is a defined maximum). I would suspect in your case of 5 mins it could be that the timings are conservative (or signaller has been very quick to respond to the train approaching annunciation to manually lower barriers), or there could have been a second train approaching in which case signaller has decided to keep crossing closed to road traffic.

Hope this helps. (apologies for going off the topic).

 

[jopsuk]

(staying off topic, I know- if a mod wants to split this out go ahead)
I'm pretty sure of the timetable. When the barriers go down is, I thinka Stansted XC train is due to leave Cambridge. The crossing is Granhams Road. There's also a northbound stopping NXEA service that usually comes through as well- if this is running a minute or two late, the barriers are down for seven or more minutes.

 

[garethrees]

According to BAA's website the TWA enquiry is now deferred until after the Government's comprehensive spending review. The latter is due in the autumn, but I though BAA were basically paying for Airtrack from their own piggy bank?

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Definitely a huge issue. There are whole reports on the Airtrack website discussing the issues, such as this one:

Airtrack Environmental Statement Volume 2

The biggest problem with the Airtrack Environment Statements, Additional Position Statements, Level Crossing reviews etc. is that none of them have citations for the 'facts' within them.

I have repeatable asked DfT for an independent time and motion study into the level crossing effects Airtrack would bring, as such it has not been provided.

As a local living near the crossings, It's quite obvious that the 'facts' in these documents are complete and utter rubbish. I invite anyone to read the 'facts' then proceed to a level crossing for one busy commuter morning, time the closures and build up of traffic for yourself.

Don't believe everything you read without independent citation from an impartial body.