Does anyone ever get off at Reading ( rant )

[kentrailman]

Yes of course they must, and this is mainly in jest, but as a regular traveller back and forth between Bristol and Paddington at all different times of day who makes a point of trying to sit in the queitest part of the train ( the Bristol end ) I am always annoyed by Reading, as whichever direction one travels in, towards London or towards Bristol, at almost any time of day, there are always loads of people piling on to the train, turning a peaceful journey ( apart from the endless catering announcements ) into a crowded noisy busy one and hardly anyone ever gets off.

The new (ish) escalators add to the problem by dropping boarding passengers right by the Bristol end of the train but whether going towards London or Bristol, at almost all times of day except the peak of the evening peak Bristol bound, when the train pulls into reading everything goes down hill.

The whole world gets on at Reading whichever direction you go and whatever time ... but never does the train get quieter there as people get off .. they never do. They only ever seem to get on.

Longing for the short lived "express" trains that ran from Bristol to London without stopping at Reading ( or anywhere ) before covid, wish they would come back.

Ok, silly rant over sorry .

 

[crablab]

This is an odd post.

but never does the train get quieter there as people get off .. they never do. They only ever seem to get on.

Lots of people get off at Reading on their commute home from London.

Reading is a regional transport hub, what do you expect? Presumably you'll have the same complaints about OOC when it opens?

The new (ish) escalators add to the problem by dropping boarding passengers right by the Bristol end of the train

There are two sets of escalators/stairs down to platform level, and neither are at the extreme end of the train.

Where else should they be?

 

[kentrailman]

This is an odd post.

Lots of people get off at Reading on their commute home from London.

Reading is a regional transport hub, what do you expect? Presumably you'll have the same complaints about OOC when it opens?


There are two sets of escalators/stairs down to platform level, and neither are at the extreme end of the train.

Where else should they be?

Yes I know, the escalators are ideally placed to distribute people along the whole length of the train. Ideal, except for those like me who try to sit in the furthest away quietest part of the train away from stairs, ticket barriers etc .. Like I said, it was more a rant than anything !!
As for OOC, what a nightmare. Adding an extra stop to already slow multi stop journeys. Will probably drive when that opens.

 

[185143]

Yes I know, the escalators are ideally placed to distribute people along the whole length of the train. Ideal, except for those like me who try to sit in the furthest away quietest part of the train away from stairs, ticket barriers etc .. Like I said, it was more a rant than anything !!
As for OOC, what a nightmare. Adding an extra stop to already slow multi stop journeys. Will probably drive when that opens.

So you're going to drive all the way to Central London, pay the congestion charge and no doubt extortionate parking costs solely down to an extra few minute being caused by justifiably stopping at a major transport interchange?

I can only assume this whole thread is entirely satirical otherwise this is genuinely the most ridiculous and unbelievable thing I've read on this forum in years, if ever.

 

[Magdalia]

Look at the last ORR station usage data.

In the table of flows with one station out of London, Reading is third behind Stansted Airport and Gatwick Airport.

I have been travelling for half a century and Inter City trains calling at Reading have always been like that.

 

[brad465]

I can think of a few services that have no passengers boarding or getting off at Reading: the 12:03 PAD-PNZ, the 16:18 and 19:18 PAD-South Wales' services, as these trains don't stop at Reading!

 

[kentrailman]

So you're going to drive all the way to Central London, pay the congestion charge and no doubt extortionate parking costs solely down to an extra few minute being caused by justifiably stopping at a major transport interchange?

I can only assume this whole thread is entirely satirical otherwise this is genuinely the most ridiculous and unbelievable thing I've read on this forum in years, if ever.

Nooo .. Travelling from kent so will drive around M25 ... and will also avoid the ridiculously short six coach trains on HS1 which are also always packed except in the morning peaks .. and re second paragraph yes, that's why I put it in general discussion not main forum ! .. But was on a London bound train at reading at about 2pm when it was swamped by new passengers when I posted it ! ... having been on bristol bound trains at same sort of time through reading which also get similar crowds coming on !

I can think of a few services that have no passengers boarding or getting off at Reading: the 12:03 PAD-PNZ, the 16:18 and 19:18 PAD-South Wales' services, as these trains don't stop at Reading!

 

[DelW]

Well, I regularly get off up trains at Reading, and change onto the North Downs line. But the corollary of that is that I'm therefore guilty of boarding down trains .

Assuming most pax make return journeys, all those annoying people getting on to go towards Paddington, must presumably get off the down equivalents on their way back? I think that your perception of more boarding than disembarking can't work in both directions! Unless people make curious circular journeys, maybe using SWR one way only

I think it's human nature to be more conscious of things that annoy us, than we are of things that satisfy us. Social media algorithms trade almost entirely on that phenomenon.

(PS, I'm aware that your post wasn't wholly serious, and this is in the same spirit)

 

[cactustwirly]

Yes of course they must, and this is mainly in jest, but as a regular traveller back and forth between Bristol and Paddington at all different times of day who makes a point of trying to sit in the queitest part of the train ( the Bristol end ) I am always annoyed by Reading, as whichever direction one travels in, towards London or towards Bristol, at almost any time of day, there are always loads of people piling on to the train, turning a peaceful journey ( apart from the endless catering announcements ) into a crowded noisy busy one and hardly anyone ever gets off.

The new (ish) escalators add to the problem by dropping boarding passengers right by the Bristol end of the train but whether going towards London or Bristol, at almost all times of day except the peak of the evening peak Bristol bound, when the train pulls into reading everything goes down hill.

The whole world gets on at Reading whichever direction you go and whatever time ... but never does the train get quieter there as people get off .. they never do. They only ever seem to get on.

Longing for the short lived "express" trains that ran from Bristol to London without stopping at Reading ( or anywhere ) before covid, wish they would come back.

Ok, silly rant over sorry .

In an ideal world you'd run extra express trains from Theale or Newbury to Paddington.
This has been brought up before and it would cost more money to provide so isn't going to happen

 

[3141]

Yes of course they must, and this is mainly in jest, but as a regular traveller back and forth between Bristol and Paddington at all different times of day who makes a point of trying to sit in the queitest part of the train ( the Bristol end ) I am always annoyed by Reading, as whichever direction one travels in, towards London or towards Bristol, at almost any time of day, there are always loads of people piling on to the train, turning a peaceful journey ( apart from the endless catering announcements ) into a crowded noisy busy one and hardly anyone ever gets off.

The new (ish) escalators add to the problem by dropping boarding passengers right by the Bristol end of the train but whether going towards London or Bristol, at almost all times of day except the peak of the evening peak Bristol bound, when the train pulls into reading everything goes down hill.

The whole world gets on at Reading whichever direction you go and whatever time ... but never does the train get quieter there as people get off .. they never do. They only ever seem to get on.

Longing for the short lived "express" trains that ran from Bristol to London without stopping at Reading ( or anywhere ) before covid, wish they would come back.

Ok, silly rant over sorry .

Yes, so annoying to find trains getting fuller that I've now leased my own and travel privately.

 

[Purple Train]

I think the people who assume the OP was serious need to update their Sarcasm Detector to the latest 3000-series model, available for only £16.99 (inclusive of postage and packing) from reputable outlets such as Temu and Amazon.

I sympathise with the OP. I travel semi-regularly from Slough to points west and north, journeys which are most easily made with a change at Reading. It's an endless nightmare. When I get off the Elizabeth Line train and head to the GWR platforms, it's like being in an ant's nest. Throngs upon throngs of people, all fleeing to Plymouth or St Austell or Bristol or Newport or goodness knows where; pushing, shoving, jostling. It's literally impossible to tell where the join is between platform 8 and platform 9, ridiculous. And then you get on it, which is a nightmare in itself. The GWR trains are specifically programmed that the last seat is taken the moment you get on. It doesn't matter whether you're at the front of the queue or the back: you are always the first standee. Every time. Either the empty train has been swarmed by the people in front of you on the platform, or it's already full of anonymous Londoners who have nothing better to do than ride to Newton Abbot and back simply to take up a seat that could have been yours. This is a significant overreach by the state and proof of the appalling specifications of the Class 800/802 stock. And when there is a seat, it's almost always taken up by the Invisible Man and his lap is even more uncomfortable than the seats.

Don't even get me started with trying to get off the train on the way back. The IETs have only one door leaf per door. This is a disgrace. No successful item of rolling stock has ever had one door leaf per door (except for Mk. 1 coaches and derivatives thereupon, Mk. 2 coaches and derivatives thereupon, Mk. 3 coaches, Mk. 4 coaches, the Class 444, the Class 220, the Class 221, the Class 222, the Class 156, the Class 390, and the Eurostar units, but we can ignore them). Two door leaves is the recent fashion, but ideally all new stock must have three door leaves per door. This must be a national standard, or I, as the only person ever alighting at Reading, will continue to be flattened by the hordes of people trying to escape onto the train. Literally that one time I got knocked over by this lout with a bike, nine suitcases and a horse because we had to share a door. The rights of we Southerners to impatience must be respected by the state. Never used to happen before King Charles got in.

Where do all these people come from? They can't come through the entrance; nobody ever goes there. Gateline staff paid a fortune for nothing, broken Britain, going to the dogs. Anyway I tried to exit the station once. Put my ticket in, as you do. Stupid barrier then shouted at me, inconsiderate so-and-so. Wouldn't let me through. Kept refusing to believe I was real. No staff anywhere either, broken Britain, going to the dogs. Why they want Reading to be a city I'll never know, with this mass exodus there are probably only three people left by now. Horrendous confusing mess of a station, why nobody does anything about it I'll never know. One day someone will get stuck in an endless loop while making the station look busy and then the railway will look silly. And the platform numbering is discriminatory against people who can't count past 10. Whose idea was that? It means I can only get halfway across the footbridge before stopping dead and looking confused. In fact, I'm still there now.

Sadly, nothing will change; the railway is so anti-passenger and if they listened to me things would be far better.

*Bet you didn't notice that asterisk, did you?

(P.S. I love fun little threads like this: a nice antidote to the rather grey state of the world at the minute. Thanks for the rant OP )

 

[signed]

three door leaves per door

How would you stack 3 door leaves on a train doorway? That's not a patio .

I agree that one on a commuter train is stupid (Though very nice trains, the regional Hitachi Rock in Italy have the slowest feeling door movement because it's one big sliding door). Though the IET are IC stock, so the need is to maximize the space and not the door speed/space

 

[Purple Train]

How would you stack 3 door leaves on a train doorway? That's not a patio .

Encouraging the next Dragons' Den application!

I agree that one on a commuter train is stupid (Though very nice trains, the regional Hitachi Rock in Italy have the slowest feeling door movement because it's one big sliding door). Though the IET are IC stock, so the need is to maximize the space and not the door speed/space

I still have fond memories of my mother marshalling me plus a large pushchair through the single-leaf door of a 156 - a tight squeeze to put it mildly...

 

[43096]

How would you stack 3 door leaves on a train doorway? That's not a patio .

It's obvious - the middle one is a roller shutter door.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

*Bet you didn't notice that asterisk, did you?

That's a brilliant way of ensuring everyone reads your post properly!!

 

[Purple Train]

That's a brilliant way of ensuring everyone reads your post properly!!

I shall now edit all 1,928 of my other posts accordingly...!

 

[Falcon1200]

Quite apart from its connectional opportunities, Reading itself is a major traffic generator. I worked in the booking office there from 1980 to 84, and back then our takings were second on the Western Region only to Paddington, ie we took more money than for example Bristol, Cardiff or Plymouth.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

I think the people who assume the OP was serious need to update their Sarcasm Detector to the latest 3000-series model, available for only £16.99 (inclusive of postage and packing) from reputable outlets such as Temu and Amazon.

I sympathise with the OP. I travel semi-regularly from Slough to points west and north, journeys which are most easily made with a change at Reading. It's an endless nightmare. When I get off the Elizabeth Line train and head to the GWR platforms, it's like being in an ant's nest. Throngs upon throngs of people, all fleeing to Plymouth or St Austell or Bristol or Newport or goodness knows where; pushing, shoving, jostling. It's literally impossible to tell where the join is between platform 8 and platform 9, ridiculous. And then you get on it, which is a nightmare in itself. The GWR trains are specifically programmed that the last seat is taken the moment you get on. It doesn't matter whether you're at the front of the queue or the back: you are always the first standee. Every time. Either the empty train has been swarmed by the people in front of you on the platform, or it's already full of anonymous Londoners who have nothing better to do than ride to Newton Abbot and back simply to take up a seat that could have been yours. This is a significant overreach by the state and proof of the appalling specifications of the Class 800/802 stock. And when there is a seat, it's almost always taken up by the Invisible Man and his lap is even more uncomfortable than the seats.

Don't even get me started with trying to get off the train on the way back. The IETs have only one door leaf per door. This is a disgrace. No successful item of rolling stock has ever had one door leaf per door (except for Mk. 1 coaches and derivatives thereupon, Mk. 2 coaches and derivatives thereupon, Mk. 3 coaches, Mk. 4 coaches, the Class 444, the Class 220, the Class 221, the Class 222, the Class 156, the Class 390, and the Eurostar units, but we can ignore them). Two door leaves is the recent fashion, but ideally all new stock must have three door leaves per door. This must be a national standard, or I, as the only person ever alighting at Reading, will continue to be flattened by the hordes of people trying to escape onto the train. Literally that one time I got knocked over by this lout with a bike, nine suitcases and a horse because we had to share a door. The rights of we Southerners to impatience must be respected by the state. Never used to happen before King Charles got in.

Where do all these people come from? They can't come through the entrance; nobody ever goes there. Gateline staff paid a fortune for nothing, broken Britain, going to the dogs. Anyway I tried to exit the station once. Put my ticket in, as you do. Stupid barrier then shouted at me, inconsiderate so-and-so. Wouldn't let me through. Kept refusing to believe I was real. No staff anywhere either, broken Britain, going to the dogs. Why they want Reading to be a city I'll never know, with this mass exodus there are probably only three people left by now. Horrendous confusing mess of a station, why nobody does anything about it I'll never know. One day someone will get stuck in an endless loop while making the station look busy and then the railway will look silly. And the platform numbering is discriminatory against people who can't count past 10. Whose idea was that? It means I can only get halfway across the footbridge before stopping dead and looking confused. In fact, I'm still there now.

Sadly, nothing will change; the railway is so anti-passenger and if they listened to me things would be far better.

*Bet you didn't notice that asterisk, did you?

(P.S. I love fun little threads like this: a nice antidote to the rather grey state of the world at the minute. Thanks for the rant OP )

I think this post should win an award, quite frankly. Not laughed that much in a long while!
(And yes, I did go back and hunt for the asterisk! )

Presumably a third - middle? - door leaf would roll up tightly into the floor or ceiling.

 

[kentrailman]

I think this post should win an award, quite frankly. Not laughed that much in a long while!
(And yes, I did go back and hunt for the asterisk! )

Presumably a third - middle? - door leaf would roll up tightly into the floor or ceiling.

 

[Purple Train]

Presumably a third - middle? - door leaf would roll up tightly into the floor or ceiling.

Access ramp? (And thank you )

 

[nw1]

I can think of a few services that have no passengers boarding or getting off at Reading: the 12:03 PAD-PNZ, the 16:18 and 19:18 PAD-South Wales' services, as these trains don't stop at Reading!

Ah that (a midday Penzance skipping Reading) still exists?
Presumably the contemporary equivalent of the 80s Cornish Riviera (circa 1145 ex-Paddington) which was also in the mid-80s about the only off-peak train to not call at Reading!

 

[brad465]

Ah that (a midday Penzance skipping Reading) still exists?
Presumably the contemporary equivalent of the 80s Cornish Riviera (circa 1145 ex-Paddington) which was also in the mid-80s about the only off-peak train to not call at Reading!

It only runs May-September and was re-introduced last year. An additional service runs at 12:05 to Plymouth that serves Reading and other stations the 12:03 skips.

 

[Purple Train]

It only runs May-September and was re-introduced last year. An additional service runs at 12:05 to Plymouth that serves Reading and other stations the 12:03 skips.

Such a train is sorely needed - when the 12.03 called at Reading it could get quite hideous. Nice to see the relief train is alive and well!

 

[saismee]

Presumably a third - middle? - door leaf would roll up tightly into the floor or ceiling.

And most likely not open all the way, causing everyone to trip or bash their head! Don't forget to make it extra tall so it takes so long to open that the other two leaves have started closing already, just to maximise inconvenience. Now this is efficiency.

 

[nw1]

It only runs May-September and was re-introduced last year. An additional service runs at 12:05 to Plymouth that serves Reading and other stations the 12:03 skips.

Ah ok, thanks. I wonder if the "Cornish Riviera" name is still used for this 12.03?
A bit reminiscent of the 80s, e.g. 1985 had the 1445 to Plymouth (HST, all days) followed by the 1447 (standard hauled stock, Fridays only) - both to Plymouth. Both called at Reading, though.