Reading Station Easter Works

28 March 2013, 06:00

Rail passengers travelling between the Thames Valley and London will face 10 days of major disruption as the latest phase of the £895m redevelopment is completed.

From Easter Friday to Sunday April 7th passengers are being warned to check before they travel as buses replace trains on some routes.

Network Rail say they'll be doing 20 weekends' worth of work over the 10 days.

From Tuesday 2nd April commuters will access the station via two new entrances, use four new platforms and walk along the link bridge for the first time.

Bill Henry, Network Rail programe director, said: "We realise it will be an inconvenience to passengers to plan alternative routes while we undertake the most ambitious part of this massive project to date. If there was any other way that we could deliver the improvements we would do it."

"By compressing together the work we need to do we are on target to finish the upgrades one year ahead of schedule in 2015. This Easter is an historic one at Reading – as it will see the wonderful new parts of the station being opened to the public for the first time."

After the first phase of the new station opens on 2nd April, there will be around 12 months of further improvement works.

These will include the demolition of the old link bridge and replacing old canopies and platforms. The entire upgrade is due to be finished by 2015 - a year ahead of schedule.

Train services will run between : London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington and between Slough and Maidenhead (except on Sunday 31 March when a bus service will operate on this route).

Trains will also operate between London Paddington and Greenford, Maidenhead and Marlow, Twyford and Henley-on-Thames, Reading and Basingstoke, Reading and Newbury, Slough and Windsor & Eton Central and Westbury and also Reading and Gatwick Airport.

Bus services will link Hayes & Harlington and Slough and Maidenhead, Reading and Didcot Parkway. A bus service will also link Twyford and Wokingham for connections to and from South West Trains services in and out of London Waterloo.