Sadly, as a local, I can tell you the Reading Remodelling has not quite got rid of all the delays but it can still be claimed as a part-success. The GWML electrification is much-maligned by some, but the improved journey times, smooth acceleration, nice new trains and the green credentials are very,very welcome and it has come so far compared to what it used to be.
It was a shame they weren't able to keep any of the beautiful old station apart from the 3 Guineas. Couldn't they have restored at least part of it?
I was in Nottingham earlier this year, before the fire. I thought Nottingham Station was really good, far better than twenty-five years ago.
A roaring success!
Is that to do with NR though or the machinations of Cllr Page? I shouldn't really be spouting off about him because I'm a member of the local LP but he has ruined the whole area outside the station. The Old Bus Station should definetely be brought back into use, if not a new purpose-built interchange.
Reading is a pretty busy junction and planning a smooth operation must be a nightmare. But it's much improved, the old layout meant continuous streams of passengers rushing here and there with last-minute platform changes.
Oh yeah,I've seen it, I've lived in Caversham(the small town on the other side of the river) for my whole life and remember the old station. I'm not saying the old station should have been totally preserved, I think it could have been partly moved into storage until a preservation society was willing to reuse all the nice old platform buildings and canopies. Maybe the Bucks Railway Centre would have had the space? The problem with the new station is the new station doesn't really connect with the SWR (old SR) third rail platforms. They should have built another bridge or subway at the eastern end allowing access to the bottom of the car park on the north side and the short stay on the south side, while taking the golden opportunity to demolish that horrible 80s' building to replace it with a tower block with large concourse under it (to justify reconstruction costs) and access to the Southern platforms the whole way along as much as practicable ,a bit like a smaller scale Kings Cross Redevelopment. Ideally, the Short stay would be relocated under the Friars Walk shopping centre redevelopment with a new bus station located under the new concourse and a new subway at the western end as there's going to be a huge development of flats on the old Royal Mail site right next to the railway on Caversham Road and they'll have no way to get to the Town Centre without a huge detour,but those are pipe dreams.
Agreed
Hopefully next year's patronage figures will continue to go up. Maybe the line north of Tain will see an increase.
Thanks for the update.
I'm certainly not going to disqualify schemes like Borders but, whilst ultimately successful, it doesn't fit my original criteria of being on budget and on time.
