Transport Plans and Strategies

Reading Station Redevelopment Strategy

Reading's railway station is a key hub in the national rail network and is the UK's second busiest interchange outside of London with more than 15 million passengers passing through each year. This figure has been growing at 7% per annum. The station has been identified as a key bottleneck on the Great Western Mainline Railway in three separate multi-modal studies and there is an urgent need to implement an upgrade scheme in a national, regional and local context.

The new Reading Station area will become the focus of a new city centre quarter, linking the current centre with the River Thames. The Station area will include a new rail station, a public transport interchange, and related mixed-use developments with new and refurbished public streets and spaces integrated with strategies for the city centre and for the city as a whole. An Initial Development Framework for the Interchange was completed in November 2002.

Funding

RBC has secured some €3 million of European Union funding towards improved facilities at Reading station through two separate funding applications. Working closely with lead partner South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), RBC received a £2 million grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Interreg IIIB North West Europe HSTconnect project which is aimed at improving connections and access to the high speed train network across Europe. RBC is one of 14 strategic and investment partners throughout England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany in the HSTconnect project, which was formally launched in Liège and Maastricht in April 2005.

A second bid was submitted under the TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Networks) programme. Reading was supported by the Europe Division of the UK Government's Department for Transport in securing £1 million towards the development of the station concourse design and business case for the proposed major upgrade.

The station project is a long term redevelopment scheme aimed at delivering sustainable communities.

1st phase

The first of these phases Reading Station Interchange and Environmental Enhancement Scheme has now been fully implemented. To enhance the local environment, extensive improvements have been made to the area surrounding the station and to the approaches, including new street lighting, areas of improved paving and the removal of street clutter. To enhance the passenger waiting environment, a purpose-built 42-bay, 105 metre (345 feet) structure has been built incorporating bus waiting facilities, Real Time Passenger Information, a taxi waiting area and a central sheltered walkway.

Significant improvements have also been made to relieve congestion in the proximity of the station at peak times, including removal of 'through traffic', a new wide pedestrian crossing, and a redesigned junction and roundabout layout to promote the use of the short-stay car park.