• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Future changes to services between Reading and Paddington

Status
Not open for further replies.

chillcoat

New Member
Joined
20 Apr 2015
Messages
2
Hi all,

Posting to gain some collective wisdom. I’m thinking of moving to the Reading area next year and commuting into London. I may end up nearer Twyford or Reading Green Park station (when that’s open) depending on housing availability.

I’ve previously read the various RUS and other strategy documents published by NR around the GWML changes but have not seen an indication of what changes will be made to services between Reading / local stations and London Paddington as a result of:

- Electrification
- Extended franchise for FGW
- Crossrail
- Reading station improvements

Does anyone know of such a list?

Many thanks.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Shaggy

Member
Joined
13 Nov 2009
Messages
126
Hi Chillcoat,

If you are who I think you are (All Souls etc - if not then that's embarrassing!) then welcome back to Berkshire.

To my knowledge, nothing of any great detail has been published yet. Much of what has announced has deliberately been vague. Most staff not even knowing exactly what traction will go where (I mean in LTV land), let alone any detailed changes to the timetable.

So rather than patronise you with what you know, I'll finish there!

GC
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,546
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
Crikey, someone choosing to move into fGW land to commute to London?!

Unless there's a huge draw towards Reading e.g. for family, I'd instead head a bit closer to the Chiltern line if I were you.
 

bavvo

Member
Joined
22 Nov 2014
Messages
190
Location
Henley on Thames
Crikey, someone choosing to move into fGW land to commute to London?!

Unless there's a huge draw towards Reading e.g. for family, I'd instead head a bit closer to the Chiltern line if I were you.

Sometimes you don't get much choice, and have to endure the Thames Turbos. ;)

Personally I am cautiously optimistic that things will rapidly improve in a few years....
 

laird

Member
Joined
1 Aug 2009
Messages
128
Twyford would have 2 trains per hour from 2019 (Crossrail) all stations to Whitechapel via Paddington Low Level and then probably all stations to Abbey Wood.

The balance of 2 trains would be residual Great Western services consisting of an EMU to Paddington High Level.
 

chillcoat

New Member
Joined
20 Apr 2015
Messages
2
Thanks all for your replies.

Hi Chillcoat,

If you are who I think you are (All Souls etc - if not then that's embarrassing!) then welcome back to Berkshire.

To my knowledge, nothing of any great detail has been published yet. Much of what has announced has deliberately been vague. Most staff not even knowing exactly what traction will go where (I mean in LTV land), let alone any detailed changes to the timetable.

So rather than patronise you with what you know, I'll finish there!

GC

Hello Shaggy - fancy meeting you here. Your online moniker is more anonymous than mine. I was hoping if anyone knew, it would be you! So I'm not missing any information which has been published anywhere.

Although I would hope that electrification will bring more and faster trains along the line it seems that nothing has been confirmed. I suppose we will all have to wait and see.
 

LexyBoy

Established Member
Fares Advisor
Joined
23 Jan 2009
Messages
4,478
Location
North of the rivers
I think it's safe to say that there will definitely be improvements, mainly down to Crossrail improving connectivity from Paddington (and providing much more capacity from Twyford) but also to some extent from electrification - reduced journey times and improved capacity.

If you're thinking to buy, be aware that the "Crossrail effect" has been much hyped so house prices are likely to be inflated more than the surrounding area (especially true of flats and new builds near stations). There is I think a plan in the RUS for a Paddington-Basingstoke EMU which would presumably call at Green Park, but I’ve not heard anything concrete. Otherwise you’re stuck with 2 tph and a change in Reading or Basingstoke.

I would work on the assumption that the service is likely to be similar to the status quo, except that Crossrail will vastly increase capacity on the stoppers and (depending where your destination in London is) may give a quicker journey. This assumption would include daily signal failures at West Drayton as well (being the optimist I am).
 

MarlowDonkey

Member
Joined
4 Apr 2013
Messages
1,094
I would work on the assumption that the service is likely to be similar to the status quo, except that Crossrail will vastly increase capacity on the stoppers

Are the Crossrail stoppers likely to be all stations? At present the off peak srevices vary their stopping patterns. Twyford, Maidenhead, Slough, West Drayton, Hayes and Ealing Broadway are called at by all trains, whilst some stop at Burnham and Taplow, or Iver and Langley and Southall. None of the Reading trains call at Hanwell, West Ealing or Acton which are served by Heathrow Connect.

In peak hours, both Twyford and Maidenhead have non-stop or limited stop runs to Paddington.

For many journeys to Central London, the City and Docklands, it might be quicker to catch the fasts, where they still exist, and change to Crossrail at Paddington.

If HS2 ever gets built, there's also the probability of a major interchange at Old Oak Common.
 

swt_passenger

Veteran Member
Joined
7 Apr 2010
Messages
31,274
Are the Crossrail stoppers likely to be all stations? At present the off peak srevices vary their stopping patterns. Twyford, Maidenhead, Slough, West Drayton, Hayes and Ealing Broadway are called at by all trains, whilst some stop at Burnham and Taplow, or Iver and Langley and Southall. None of the Reading trains call at Hanwell, West Ealing or Acton which are served by Heathrow Connect.

Crossrail and the remaining GW stoppers, both peak and off peak, are shown in table form on the Crossrail website here:
http://www.crossrail.co.uk/route/surface/western-section/
The main point being made about the capacity increase is that they are fixed formation 200m units.
 

Chris125

Established Member
Joined
12 Nov 2009
Messages
3,074
Don't forget that in the coming years Reading will also benefit from direct services to Heathrow, as well as Milton Keynes via Oxford and Bicester.
 
Last edited:

cle

Established Member
Joined
17 Nov 2010
Messages
4,008
I thought there was also talk of Paddington (fast) - Reading - Basingstoke trains?
 

JamesRowden

Established Member
Joined
31 Aug 2011
Messages
1,709
Location
Ilfracombe
I thought there was also talk of Paddington (fast) - Reading - Basingstoke trains?

The Western Route Study draft suggests running a 2tph Paddington to Basingstoke via Heathrow service. This appears to be a direct replacement for the 'Paddington - Slough/Maidenhead/Twyford - Reading - (stopping) - Basingstoke' service idea which was suggested by the London and South East RUS (before Western Access to Heathrow had been announced).
 

Taunton

Established Member
Joined
1 Aug 2013
Messages
10,020
It's well known that the bulk of Crossrail is going to turn round at Paddington on current plans, and I think it's unfortunate that a flying junction has not been put in at Westbourne Park to the fasts as well as the slows. This might allow the remnants of the Heathrow Express, when their concession expires in 2023, to be linked into Crossrail, across London and then nonstop to the airport, and also to run Crossrail fasts out to Slough, thence doing the station work onwards to Reading, with the all stations from Paddington terminated at Slough. The likes of Twyford or Burnham are not really going to take to an all-stations jog-trot towards London. Slough itself is a substantial journey generator but it seems that, unlike the comparable Woking or Shenfield, they are not going to have any meaningful service to London other than an all-stations stopper.
 

JamesRowden

Established Member
Joined
31 Aug 2011
Messages
1,709
Location
Ilfracombe
It's well known that the bulk of Crossrail is going to turn round at Paddington on current plans, and I think it's unfortunate that a flying junction has not been put in at Westbourne Park to the fasts as well as the slows. This might allow the remnants of the Heathrow Express, when their concession expires in 2023, to be linked into Crossrail, across London and then nonstop to the airport, and also to run Crossrail fasts out to Slough, thence doing the station work onwards to Reading, with the all stations from Paddington terminated at Slough. The likes of Twyford or Burnham are not really going to take to an all-stations jog-trot towards London. Slough itself is a substantial journey generator but it seems that, unlike the comparable Woking or Shenfield, they are not going to have any meaningful service to London other than an all-stations stopper.

The Western Route Study draft recommends transferring to Crossrail all relief line services on the GWML within London. This would mean that during the peak Slough would have a 2tph Crossrail service that only calls at Ealing Broadway before Paddington (plus Old Oak Common when opened). During the off-peak this service would call additionally at Hayes & Harlington (perhaps this would change post Western access to Heathrow).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top