Reading redevelopment

Is there a reason the old station entrance area with shops etc was kept when the station was rebuilt ?

Was it always the intention?

Not sure when it was built but guessing the 80s? Looks pretty dated

Yes, there is a reason.

The building dates from the last extension to the station facilities - being opened in 1989 by the Queen and built on the site of the station built by the Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway. This was later bought by the South Eastern Railway.

The rebuild of Reading station eight or nine years ago added more platforms, a new northern entrance with a ticket office and a wide pedestrian bridge to connect them and a couple of ticket machines in the new southern (town side) entrance to the bridge but no additional 'land side' station facilities which remain concentrated in the 1989 building. Apart from the shops you mention the building houses the main ticket office, the Railair lounge for the Heathrow coaches, one of the entrances to the neighbouring Apex office block; the short term car park and drop off point for people living south of the railway is in the undercroft.

For the money it had available I think BR did a pretty good job. Unfortunately the street doors in the 1989 building were removed during the rebuild to enable some large pieces of equipment to be brought into the station and the replacements are less than tidy. They don't help the overall impression.

Yes, as said it was always planned to be kept, I’ve got a number of planning drawings and other documents about it, and there was never any mention of losing it.

387star said:

Is there a reason the old station entrance area with shops etc was kept when the station was rebuilt ?

Was it always the intention?

Not sure when it was built but guessing the 80s? Looks pretty dated

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Yes I think so,but it being dated isn't a problem. The Reading redevelopment didn't have enough money thrown at it,so we didn't get at least a rebuilt bridge to the car park that is needed to cut time for some people coming from east of the cycle bridge/or maybe a ticket gated subway by the car park. I get they couldn't fund one at the Caversham Road end-I wonder if the developers of the old Royal Mail will fund a public subway between their estate and Tudor Road to say thanks.

AlastairFraser said:

Yes I think so,but it being dated isn't a problem. The Reading redevelopment didn't have enough money thrown at it,so we didn't get at least a rebuilt bridge to the car park that is needed to cut time for some people coming from east of the cycle bridge/or maybe a ticket gated subway by the car park. I get they couldn't fund one at the Caversham Road end-I wonder if the developers of the old Royal Mail will fund a public subway between their estate and Tudor Road to say thanks.

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I'm not sure that I follow.

There was a pedestrian bridge that ran from the 1989 building over all the platforms to the multi-storey car park in Vastern Road. This was removed because (a) the supporting piers would have obstructed the new track layout and (b) it was too low for the OHLE. One great improvement resulting from the removal of the associated escalators and stairway from the 1989 building was that it made for an unobstructed pedestrian flow from the gateline to the 'Southern' platforms 4 to 6 rather than around the pinchpoint caused by the escalator machinery room.

In principle a direct access from the platforms to the car park would be handy. is this what you meant by a rebuilt bridge? The issue is that as any bridge serving all the platforms would have to have been higher the stairs and escalators would need to have started from further back inside the 1989 building. This would have really messed up passenger flows.

There is still a publicly accessible, ungated subway under the station - it's the old subway which used to be the only way to the platforms before the 1989 rebuild. It's been refaced and resurfaced. It is in use now and will be the route for people to reach the town centre from the proposed development on the old Royal Mail site. Anyway a subway under the railway from the Royal Mail site to Tudor Road would come out behind the office blocks! And who would want to go to Tudor Road anyway - now that Eames has gone[1]?

[1] In-joke for the septuagenarians! EAMES (Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Services) was a fabulous model railway hobby shop for scratch builders which was in Tudor Road. Of course it also sold Hornby and Tri-Ang. Maurice Earley the renowned railway photographer of the 1930 to 1960 period was either a regular or had an interest in the shop whom I met several times when I was a schoolboy. The shop closed when the area was redeveloped.

I watched the 1989 concourse building, bridge and car park go up from my office over the road in Western Tower. It was a huge improvement in facilities compared to what had existed before. Leaving much of this in place also helped the station maintain some semblance of normal operation during the more recent construction activity.

coppercapped said:

I'm not sure that I follow.

There was a pedestrian bridge that ran from the 1989 building over all the platforms to the multi-storey car park in Vastern Road. This was removed because (a) the supporting piers would have obstructed the new track layout and (b) it was too low for the OHLE. One great improvement resulting from the removal of the associated escalators and stairway from the 1989 building was that it made for an unobstructed pedestrian flow from the gateline to the 'Southern' platforms 4 to 6 rather than around the pinchpoint caused by the escalator machinery room.

In principle a direct access from the platforms to the car park would be handy. is this what you meant by a rebuilt bridge? The issue is that as any bridge serving all the platforms would have to have been higher the stairs and escalators would need to have started from further back inside the 1989 building. This would have really messed up passenger flows.

There is still a publicly accessible, ungated subway under the station - it's the old subway which used to be the only way to the platforms before the 1989 rebuild. It's been refaced and resurfaced. It is in use now and will be the route for people to reach the town centre from the proposed development on the old Royal Mail site. Anyway a subway under the railway from the Royal Mail site to Tudor Road would come out behind the office blocks! And who would want to go to Tudor Road anyway - now that Eames has gone[1]?

[1] In-joke for the septuagenarians! EAMES (Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Services) was a fabulous model railway hobby shop for scratch builders which was in Tudor Road. Of course it also sold Hornby and Tri-Ang. Maurice Earley the renowned railway photographer of the 1930 to 1960 period was either a regular or had an interest in the shop whom I met several times when I was a schoolboy. The shop closed when the area was redeveloped.

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Yes, a direct access from the platforms to the car park is what I would like to see later-perhaps as a Reading redevelopment part 2-because,let's be honest, it is not complete because the bus station has not been replaced and the Station Hill development has not been built(not NR or the TOC's fault though). Maybe the 1989 bit could be redeveloped at the same time with the new ticket hall below a tower block connected (the short stay car park below can stay).I use the subway nearly every day-.

AlastairFraser said:

Yes, a direct access from the platforms to the car park is what I would like to see later-perhaps as a Reading redevelopment part 2-because,let's be honest, it is not complete because the bus station has not been replaced and the Station Hill development has not been built(not NR or the TOC's fault though). Maybe the 1989 bit could be redeveloped at the same time with the new ticket hall below a tower block connected (the short stay car park below can stay).I use the subway nearly every day-.

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Admittedly direct access from the platforms to the multi-storey car park would be a 'nice to have'. But I can't see it happening because there would have to be some major civil engineering work to install an accessible bridge which passes over the OHLE. Such a bridge cannot only have stairs, it would also have to have lifts and most likely escalators as well because of the height. All this for the two main travel peaks in the morning and evening to save four or five minutes.

The planning or re-building of the bus station has nothing whatsoever to do with NR. In fact because Reading Borough Council (RBC) ripped up Station Hill - which was built on concrete columns in the late 1920s or early 1930s - it has made a bus station at or near the original site impossible and there are no other suitable sites nearby. Buses can't climb steps. RBC has got itself a nice plaza - but ruined the through bus routes.

RBC has a plan for the station area - this is now 9 years old and has been rather overtaken by events, but it gives an idea of what is in mind. Frankly I find your idea of another tower block on top of the 1989 station appalling. All they do is generate winds at street level and there are enough partially empty office blocks in the area already.

coppercapped said:

RBC has a plan for the station area - this is now 9 years old and has been rather overtaken by events, but it gives an idea of what is in mind. Frankly I find your idea of another tower block on top of the 1989 station appalling. All they do is generate winds at street level and there are enough partially empty office blocks in the area already.

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I've added a link to a blog on Reading re-development schemes: http://readingonthames.com/2019/06/17/station-hill-4-revealed-lets-get-on-with-it/. Unfortunately developers seem to have travelled back 50 years and are once again going BIG on high rises, for both residential accommodation and commercial office space.

The Rail Air side of the Brunel Arcade building would be a good location for a Hull Paragon style bus interchange, with saw-tooth bus bays. Waiting bus passengers should provide additional passing trade for the Arcade's shops.

Compared to a lot of places Reading has a decent big station and lots of railway activity

Why does Reading need a bus station? The on-street bus stops at a range of convenient locations are totally adequate - Reading is hardly an interchange location between loads of 'country' routes.

coppercapped said:

Admittedly direct access from the platforms to the multi-storey car park would be a 'nice to have'. But I can't see it happening because there would have to be some major civil engineering work to install an accessible bridge which passes over the OHLE. Such a bridge cannot only have stairs, it would also have to have lifts and most likely escalators as well because of the height. All this for the two main travel peaks in the morning and evening to save four or five minutes.

The planning or re-building of the bus station has nothing whatsoever to do with NR. In fact because Reading Borough Council (RBC) ripped up Station Hill - which was built on concrete columns in the late 1920s or early 1930s - it has made a bus station at or near the original site impossible and there are no other suitable sites nearby. Buses can't climb steps. RBC has got itself a nice plaza - but ruined the through bus routes.

RBC has a plan for the station area - this is now 9 years old and has been rather overtaken by events, but it gives an idea of what is in mind. Frankly I find your idea of another tower block on top of the 1989 station appalling. All they do is generate winds at street level and there are enough partially empty office blocks in the area already.

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I don't particularly want another tower block either-but if it would fund a new bridge, then I'd support it. I keenly follow RBC's activities and yes, I know the saga of the Station Hill development,not GWR or NR. That's why I said it wasn't the TOC's fault or GWR's if you look at my previous. BTW it's interesting to hear about EAMES. It must have been redeveloped before I was born because I guarantee I would have been all over a shop like that. This point isn't really anything to do with the railway but it seems Reading is losing all its interesting independent shops/department stores-Jacksons being a good example,which is a total shame.

Non Multi said:

I've added a link to a blog on Reading re-development schemes: http://readingonthames.com/2019/06/17/station-hill-4-revealed-lets-get-on-with-it/. Unfortunately developers seem to have travelled back 50 years and are once again going BIG on high rises, for both residential accommodation and commercial office space.

The Rail Air side of the Brunel Arcade building would be a good location for a Hull Paragon style bus interchange, with saw-tooth bus bays. Waiting bus passengers should provide additional passing trade for the Arcade's shops.

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I hadn't thought of an interchange of that style-it seems like a good idea,although there isn't that all that much space by the RailAir stops and where would the Rail Air coaches stop. Station Hill bus station was adequate and RBC should never have got rid of it. But perhaps there could be a Hull Paragon style arrangement for some of the buses by the Brunel Arcade as you suggested and a partially-reinstated Station Hill bus station on the stub of Station Hill after the redevelopment where some of the taxis queue and I think football buses still leave from.

Clayton said:

Compared to a lot of places Reading has a decent big station and lots of railway activity

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Yes,the new station building is decent and the new service level great-however it's the lack of direct connectivity(am I using the right word?) for people travelling further afield (Oxford,Wallingford,Wokingham,Bracknell,Newbury,Riseley etc) or even within Reading that slightly lets down this jewel in Reading's crown.

AlastairFraser said:

I don't particularly want another tower block either-but if it would fund a new bridge, then I'd support it. I keenly follow RBC's activities and yes, I know the saga of the Station Hill development,not GWR or NR. That's why I said it wasn't the TOC's fault or GWR's if you look at my previous. BTW it's interesting to hear about EAMES. It must have been redeveloped before I was born because I guarantee I would have been all over a shop like that. This point isn't really anything to do with the railway but it seems Reading is losing all its interesting independent shops/department stores-Jacksons being a good example,which is a total shame.

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I used to pass EAMES on my way to school. Much of my pocket money was diverted there. Wonderful shop.

Until the late 60s the station was a major bus interchange point. Thames Valley Traction had an enquiry office, shared with BR in a structure tacked on the the front of the old SER station.

Inter urban services ran from just outside, but there was never a formal system of platforms., although there were a number of raised pedestrian islands. Chiltern Queens and Tappins, which served South Oxon, were also present, though a few yards to the west. Add in local corporation routes, including trolley buses and the site was extremely useful.

Bungle158 said:

I used to pass EAMES on my way to school. Much of my pocket money was diverted there. Wonderful shop.

Until the late 60s the station was a major bus interchange point. Thames Valley Traction had an enquiry office, shared with BR in a structure tacked on the the front of the old SER station.

Inter urban services ran from just outside, but there was never a formal system of platforms., although there were a number of raised pedestrian islands. Chiltern Queens and Tappins, which served South Oxon, were also present, though a few yards to the west. Add in local corporation routes, including trolley buses and the site was extremely useful.

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It's nice to hear about Eames,it's a shame it closed down then because I would have loved it.I'm only young (born in 2002) so wouldn't know much about old Reading, but some of my family have been in the area/South Oxfordshire for the last 200 years or so. I live in Caversham myself so I remember a few of the older shops which survived for a bit longer(Drews,Jacksons etc). Tappins I remember as still existing as a coach company today,but Chiltern Queens is before my time. We need a medium/long-distance bus station by the Rail Air bays as someone else has suggested serving Oxford/Newbury/Bracknell/London/Heathrow etc and an urban bus station back on Station Hill using the stub which is currently used by taxis and football buses.

A link to Reading Museum's Photo archives. Image shows the original bus interchange

http://collections.readingmuseum.org.uk/index.asp?page=record&mwsquery= {collection}={history}&filename=REDMG&hitsStart=1428

A general response to all those writing about bus connections at Reading station.

Many of the places mentioned - Oxford, Newbury, Bracknell - already have direct, and frequent, train services. Bus and coach services to those places are mainly of interest to those travelling to intermediate destinations. Heathrow already has a dedicated coach link running two or three times an hour. There are also bus services to other places - Fleet, High Wycombe etc. - which are not directly served by trains. The stops for all these services are, as JonathanH posted, in the nearby streets close to the offices and shops they serve. Bus stations might put all the buses in one place, but bus stops are more accessible if people don't have to walk too far to reach them.

Bus stations are most useful (arguably, are only of use) for people connecting between routes - but the number of people travelling from, say, Wallingford to Riseley must be minimal. Bus routes into Reading, as in any large town, mainly carry people into the town centres where the employment is and the shops are - most people do not interline.

There has already been a suggestion from an previous managing director of Reading Buses that more local buses could use the area now occupied by the Railair coaches when the area is vacated following the opening of the Western rail link to Heathrow which is now going through its planning stages. However the site is not large - at the moment it holds a maximum of two coaches but with a bit of work there might be space for four stops - a net increase of two for local buses compared to the number now there. It won't have a large effect.

When I went to school there was a through route from Uplands Road in Caversham to Reading's town boundary in Shinfield Road at the junction with Whitley Wood Road (this was before the routes had numbers!) which gave a direct connection from one side of the river to the other via stops in Station Hill and the town centre in Broad Street. By demolishing the ramp of Station Hill RBC has itself broken the through bus routes from Caversham (and Rivermead) to the town centre - alternative routes being very circuitous. It has gained an open space in front of the station with a pedestrian connection to the town centre giving a view of the new station building (which it has now ruined with the installation of a massive illuminated advertising hoarding!) but messed up those bus routes which crossed the town centre.

I personally cannot see any requirement for a bus station - and I certainly cannot see a sufficiently large site near the railway station which would permit buses to leave in all directions.

Looks like this is just nearby. Is it part of the area being redeveloped?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-49193855

Firefighters are searching for people feared trapped under collapsed scaffolding at an old shopping centre.

The structure came down just after 11:15 BST in Garrard Street, Reading, injuring at least three people.

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That is just south of the old bus station with the Mecca bingo hall on top. There was a high level walkway crossing Garrard St linking the stations to the Fleet Walk shopping centre, which then gave access during open hours through to Friar St. It seems the shopping centre is now being demolished. The path used to pass along the west side of Western Tower, the old BR offices, where the entrance to Mecca was, or you could cut the corner off towards the rail station via a public passageway beneath Western Tower, next to the Gulshan Indian restaurant. All gone now.

JonathanH said:

Why does Reading need a bus station? The on-street bus stops at a range of convenient locations are totally adequate - Reading is hardly an interchange location between loads of 'country' routes.

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Because loads of students. Loads of new housing and the traffic is appalling. I was in our Reading office today. I cycled back to outside Guildford (23 miles) less than 12 minutes slower than it took me to drive it this week (and I am hardly Wigginsesque in physique). The road system is appalling and they never finished the ring road.... so they are no doubt planning on a congestion charge and park and rides etc. They will need the buses.

Justapunter said:

Because loads of students. Loads of new housing and the traffic is appalling. I was in our Reading office today. I cycled back to outside Guildford (23 miles) less than 12 minutes slower than it took me to drive it this week (and I am hardly Wigginsesque in physique). The road system is appalling and they never finished the ring road.... so they are no doubt planning on a congestion charge and park and rides etc. They will need the buses.

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What has that got to do with a bus station?

I totally agree that Reading needs buses but that doesn't mean a bus station is needed. There are plenty of buses to the university - they leave from right outside the railway station and from Market Place.

JonathanH said:

What has that got to do with a bus station?

I totally agree that Reading needs buses but that doesn't mean a bus station is needed. There are plenty of buses to the university - they leave from right outside the railway station and from Market Place.

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Reading people(not transient commuters) want to be able to connect between different buses to complete cross-town journeys. A bus station allows them and others to connect in the easiest and most seamless way possible. It would be OK elsewhere,but,given the station is such a major feature in the town,it would make sense to put it there.

Difficult to see how a station location could include the core and busiest 17 route, which, due firstly to topography and then operating convenience, has avoided the station since tram lines were first laid.

AlastairFraser said:

Reading people(not transient commuters) want to be able to connect between different buses to complete cross-town journeys. A bus station allows them and others to connect in the easiest and most seamless way possible. It would be OK elsewhere,but,given the station is such a major feature in the town,it would make sense to put it there.

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"Reading People" avoided using the old bus station - it was truly awful location populated by drunks, junkies and whores.

I used Hyannis/Cape Cod Transport Hub last week. Beautiful building built in 2002, spotless toilets,. and with updated stances installed this year. Massive plot to accommodate the Cape Flyer* and all the local and interregional bus or coach services.

It would never work in the UK though, particularly not in Reading. Have you been in Reading after dark? Inside the Oracle is fine, and there's a safeish route to the station - but off the beaten path it's awful and has been for the 25 years I 've regulary worked there.

*Cape Flyer is well worth taking and supporting.

AlastairFraser said:

Reading people(not transient commuters) want to be able to connect between different buses to complete cross-town journeys. A bus station allows them and others to connect in the easiest and most seamless way possible. It would be OK elsewhere,but,given the station is such a major feature in the town,it would make sense to put it there.

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Your statement would be more accurate if you had written 'Some Reading people...'

As Bungle 158 wrote, with the exception of the 17 route - Reading Buses' most used route which passes through the town centre and avoids the railway station - all the other routes are arranged radially starting or terminating from the town centre. There used to be through routes from Caversham through the centre to the town boundary on the A327 towards Shinfield and Arborfield but this was abandoned many years ago as increasing traffic congestion on Caversham Bridge meant that services across the town centre became very delayed and irregular. Starting and terminating the routes in the centre means that delays on the Thames bridges are not imported into other routes.

Reading does have a bus station - except that it's 'virtual' rather than made out of bricks and concrete. The town centre is not large and the bus stops on most routes are, at the most, a couple of minutes walk from each other. Changing is not an issue. In any event, since Reading Borough Council removed the ramped part of Station Approach from Tudor Road up to the station forecourt, replacing it with a curved semicircle of steps so breaking any possible through vehicular route, any bus station in that area would mean that buses would have most circuitous routes into and out of it - probably making it quicker to walk across the town centre than to use a bus. Placing a bus station near the 1960s site would also place the bus station well away from the shops and offices in the centre; since the old bus station closed the shopping centre of gravity has moved away from it towards the Kennet with the opening of the Oracle shopping centre. Large office blocks have been built near the Abbey ruins along Kings Road, half a mile away from the old bus station.

The old bus station site is now in the wrong place and I see (a) no need for a bricks and mortar bus station and (b) no suitable site for one near the railway station in view of the current road layout , land use and traffic flows.

coppercapped said:

Your statement would be more accurate if you had written 'Some Reading people...'

As Bungle 158 wrote, with the exception of the 17 route - Reading Buses' most used route which passes through the town centre and avoids the railway station - all the other routes are arranged radially starting or terminating from the town centre. There used to be through routes from Caversham through the centre to the town boundary on the A327 towards Shinfield and Arborfield but this was abandoned many years ago as increasing traffic congestion on Caversham Bridge meant that services across the town centre became very delayed and irregular. Starting and terminating the routes in the centre means that delays on the Thames bridges are not imported into other routes.

Reading does have a bus station - except that it's 'virtual' rather than made out of bricks and concrete. The town centre is not large and the bus stops on most routes are, at the most, a couple of minutes walk from each other. Changing is not an issue. In any event, since Reading Borough Council removed the ramped part of Station Approach from Tudor Road up to the station forecourt, replacing it with a curved semicircle of steps so breaking any possible through vehicular route, any bus station in that area would mean that buses would have most circuitous routes into and out of it - probably making it quicker to walk across the town centre than to use a bus. Placing a bus station near the 1960s site would also place the bus station well away from the shops and offices in the centre; since the old bus station closed the shopping centre of gravity has moved away from it towards the Kennet with the opening of the Oracle shopping centre. Large office blocks have been built near the Abbey ruins along Kings Road, half a mile away from the old bus station.

The old bus station site is now in the wrong place and I see (a) no need for a bricks and mortar bus station and (b) no suitable site for one near the railway station in view of the current road layout , land use and traffic flows.

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Joining the split routes is another solution to a more connected and useful bus network for everybody in Reading,not just those south of the River, but,as you said, that might lead to traffic delays and problems because of the existing traffic across Caversham and Reading bridges. Another bus station could be anywhere in the town centre I suppose - we just need a central location where all the buses link up with each other given the split routes - near the Oracle would be a good idea that I hadn't thought of actually, near the IDR by the Riverside car park.The Oracle could benefit from the passing trade as it is not one of Hammerson's best performing shopping centres at the moment and it would have historical links to the old tram depot(for people who aren't from the area, the tram depot was on the site of the Vue cinema which is part of the Oracle complex.) Other routes could all continue their existing routes ,plus a small diversion to reach the new bus station.

AlastairFraser said:

Another bus station could be anywhere in the town centre I suppose - we just need a central location where all the buses link up with each other given the split routes

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There doesn't need to be a single bus station - there are plenty of places to switch buses around the town centre because lots of the routes have a town centre loop if they don't cross the town centre.

Reading is large enough that it has a 'natural' town centre loop - ie St Marys Butts, West Street, Friar Street, Station Road, Blagrave Street, Valpy Street, Forbury, Market Place, Minster Street, Gun Street, on which you can put bus stops rather than some single point at which all routes converge. Lots of opportunity to change between routes.

AlastairFraser said:

Joining the split routes is another solution to a more connected and useful bus network for everybody in Reading,not just those south of the River, but,as you said, that might lead to traffic delays and problems because of the existing traffic across Caversham and Reading bridges. Another bus station could be anywhere in the town centre I suppose - we just need a central location where all the buses link up with each other given the split routes - near the Oracle would be a good idea that I hadn't thought of actually, near the IDR by the Riverside car park.The Oracle could benefit from the passing trade as it is not one of Hammerson's best performing shopping centres at the moment and it would have historical links to the old tram depot(for people who aren't from the area, the tram depot was on the site of the Vue cinema which is part of the Oracle complex.) Other routes could all continue their existing routes ,plus a small diversion to reach the new bus station.

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I still don't understand why you think a bus station is a good idea. They cost a lot of money, in acquiring land and then building and operating them. Wherever they are sited they will tend to lead to indirect routing of at least some of the bus services so increasing operating expenses. Any newly built bus station will have to pay its way through the number of additional passengers it attracts to the bus network, the existing ones don't count.

Any possible historic links are irrelevant unless they serve as traffic generator. And the tram, and later bus, depot was just that - a depot. It was never a tram, or bus, station for passengers.

If Hammerson thinks that a bus station would help its business, then it should offer to cover at least some of the capital and operating costs. But I can't see that it would be interested in a bus station on the wrong side of the Kennet for most of the shops when the bus stops along Minister Street are practically beside two of the entrances to the Oracle.

Reading has the third highest bus usage of any local authority[1] in the country and usage increased by over a quarter between 2011/12 and 16/17. Reading Buses must be doing something right.

From a passenger's perspective the main issue that works against even higher bus usage is irregularities in the service and the inability of public transport to cater for small flows effectively.

[1] In passenger journeys per head of population Brighton and Hove had 172, Nottingham 149 and Reading 131 in 2016/17. Next door, so to speak, Maidenhead and Windsor is almost at the bottom of the list with only 11.

coppercapped said:

Bus stations are most useful (arguably, are only of use) for people connecting between routes - but the number of people travelling from, say, Wallingford to Riseley must be minimal. Bus routes into Reading, as in any large town, mainly carry people into the town centres where the employment is and the shops are - most people do not interline.

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I don't know that much about Reading today, but as a general point, I would say bus stations are a bit more useful than that. A well designed bus station can provide much more comfortable waiting facilities, protected from the weather, as well as things like toilets. And also - for people not familiar with an area - it provides an easy-to-find central location, making it much simpler to catch a bus - even if you might have to walk further than the locals who know exactly where the individual bus stops are scattered. And they often come with a staffed information place. For that reason, I find bus stations immensely useful if I'm - for example - on holiday in an unfamiliar town. Much more user-friendly than trawling round all the local streets trying to figure out which of the dozens of bus stops is the one the bus I need is going to stop at.

On the other hand, I do remember the old underground Reading bus station of the 1970s, and I don't think you'd want a place like that built again!