Reading West railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Reading West


caption = The northern end of Reading West Station. Beyond the end of the platforms is Oxford Road Junction, and the upper level of Reading TMD.
manager = First Great Western
locale = Reading
borough = Borough of Reading
lowusage0405 = 152,400
lowusage0506 = 153,334
lowusage0607 = 148,309
platforms = 2
start = 1 July 1906

Reading West is a railway station in Reading in England. It is situated in West Reading, to the west of the town centre, about one mile from the main retail and commercial areas. The station is served by local services operated by First Great Western.

History

The line through Reading West station opened on December 21, 1847, as part of the route from Reading to Newbury. However the station did not open until July 1, 1906, originally to serve trains from the north of England to the south coast which could thus avoid a reversal at Reading station. [ [http://web.ukonline.co.uk/cj.tolley/cjt-brhm.htm Basingstoke's Railway History in Maps] ] [Book "Rail Centres: Reading", ISBN 0-7110-1937-1, by Lawrence Waters, published by Ian Allan Ltd, 1990.]

Description

The station consists of two platforms connected by a footbridge. Small canopies provide some shelter on each platform. A ticket office is situated on the Reading bound platform but is only open in the morning. Access to the station is from Oxford Road and Tilehurst Road.

Immediately to the north of the platforms there is a bridge over the Oxford Road, followed by a double track junction (Oxford Road Junction) which is the southern apex of a triangle of tracks. The tracks to the west curve round to join the original Great Western main line towards Bristol at Reading West Junction, and are largely used by freight trains between Southampton Docks and points to the north. The tracks to the east lead to Reading station and are mostly used by passenger services.

Reading Traction Maintenance Depot (TMD) is situated inside the triangle on two levels. The upper level provides stabling for the Class 165 and Class 166 diesel multiple units used on First Great Western's local routes. The lower level originally provided shed space for locomotives, but is now principally used for stabling and maintaining track maintenance equipment.

To the south of the station the line enters a cutting, crossed by high level bridges carrying the Tilehurst Road and, further to the south, the Bath Road. Beyond the cutting is Southcote Junction, where the line to Basingstoke diverges from that to Newbury.

ervices

The station is served by local services operated by First Great Western between Reading and Basingstoke or Newbury. During weekday daytime the station is served by two trains an hour on the Basingstoke route, plus one on the Newbury route. Trains are less frequent on Sundays and in the evenings. A single commuter service each weekday morning runs through to London Paddington, having started its journey at Frome. Trains take some 3 minutes to reach Reading, 20 minutes to reach Basingstoke, 25 minutes to reach Newbury and just over 30 minutes to reach London.cite web | url = http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=3 | title = Train Times | publisher = First Great Western | accessdate = 2008-03-06]

Passenger services on First Great Western's route to the West Country via Taunton, on CrossCountry services from the North of England to Southampton and Bournemouth, and on some local services, pass through the station without stopping.

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References

External links