The Anonymous Widower

Reading’s First New Station In Over 100 Years Set To Open This Month

The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.

These two paragraphs outline the story.

Reading is set to welcome its first new railway station for over 100 years, as Green Park station is currently set to open for services on Saturday 27th May 2023.

Representing the first station to open in the area since Reading West in July 1906 and being the inaugural of three new Great Western Railway (GWR) stations opening this year along with Portway Park & Ride in Bristol and Marsh Barton in Exeter, this station will improve transport links and sustainability throughout the region.

These details of the station are also given.

• Two 150m platforms
• A new fully accessible station building
• A fully accessible overbridge, providing access to both platforms, via stairs and lifts.
• A bus interchange, taxi rank and cycle parking facilities
• Two car parks with blue badge spaces, drop-off parking and long-stay parking.

The station will be on the  Reading to Basingstoke line, with half-hourly trains.

Note.

1. The station is a reasonable walk from Reading FC’s ground.
2. The station is South of Southcote Junction, so won’t have trains to Newbury.
3. Bramley station, which is towards Basingstoke, is to be improved, as I wrote about in Beeching Reversal – Unlocking Capacity And Services Through Bramley (Hants).
4. The route is partially electrification.
5. There also may be a new station at Chineham.

Could the opening of Green Park station, be the start of more rail development in the area?

These are my thoughts.

A New Station At Chineham

This is said about a new station at Chineham, in a section called Future in the Wikipedia entry for the Reading to Basingstoke Line.

Plans have also been discussed over the years for a further new station to the north of Basingstoke, serving the Basingstoke suburb of Chineham. However doubts have been cast on the capacity of the line to support a further station after the opening of Green Park. The line between Southcote Junction and the Great Western Main Line is heavily trafficked and, in 2015, Network Rail’s Western Route Study suggested the provision of a grade separated junction at Southcote, with a third track to be provided between there and the Oxford Road Junction at Reading West.

Chineham could be an expensive station.

Extra Capacity Between Reading and Basingstoke

In addition to the two trains per hour (tph) between Reading and Basingstoke, there are also CrossCountry trains and freight services using the route.

As I said in Beeching Reversal – Unlocking Capacity And Services Through Bramley (Hants), I believe that if Chineham station is added, there will be a need for four tph on the line.

I also suspect that with the opening of the Western Rail Approach to Heathrow, this route could be used for trains between Basingstoke and Heathrow.

This could end up as a very busy line.

150 Metre Platforms At Reading Green Park Station

These are only seven-car platforms. Would they be long enough, if Reading FC were consistently in the Premiership?

I suspect that prudence would have said the platforms of all stations on the line, should be long enough to handle the nine-car trains of the Elizabeth Line.

Electrification

The Reading and Basingstoke route probably needs full electrification.

This would allow.

• Electrified freight trains between Southampton and the North.
• CrossCountry and other passenger trains to be electrified.

The electrification would need to be 25 KVAC overhead, as no more third rail electrification is possible.

Elizabeth Line Extension To Basingstoke

I wouldn’t rule this out from happening, at some time in the future.

May 15, 2023 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel, Uncategorized | Bramley Station, CrossCountry Trains, Elizabeth Line, Marsh Barton Station, New Stations, Portway Parkway Station, Reading Green Park Station, Western Rail Approach to Heathrow