Reading Green Park Station

[LUYMun]

It is just a push-bar release for the gate giving access to the emergency staircase leading to the road bridge? Anything at the top of the stairs to prevent someone accidentally thinking that was an entrance to the station, similar to Reston where the first staircase you reach if arriving by foot is the emergency staircase.

It certainly was

 

[fandroid]

It's a fine illustration of the muddle that are the boundaries of Reading since they were last updated south of the Thames in 1912. The main ticket hall and forecourt is in Reading Borough. The most part of tracks and platforms are in West Berkshire and the south end of the platforms are in Wokingham District! It's a triumph of local government that it actually ever got planning consent.

I was reminded of this because the OS has already got it marked as a red blob on its online 1:25000 map.

 

[swt_passenger]

I note that the stairs to the south of the station have been designed for emergency use, which I find to be unhelpful, given that the stairs lead to the Kirtons Farm Road bridge. Despite that road being pedestrian unfriendly, it misses the opportunity for easier access to the west of the station, given that there are small pockets of housing and a number of lakes residing there. Still, I suppose it might benefit as a parkway station for those coming off the M4/A33.

If there was normal access from that point wouldn’t it need a lift or ramp as well, and then duplicate ticketing facilities? That’ll surely be exactly why it’s not been built as such.

 

[LUYMun]

If there was normal access from that point wouldn’t it need a lift or ramp as well, and then duplicate ticketing facilities? That’ll surely be exactly why it’s not been built as such.

Perhaps so on the "Up" direction, but the "Down" bridge joins the street outside of the station, as illustrated in the photo below (sadly I neglected to take a closer shot). In current cases pedestrians would have to take an unnecessary diversion by continuing down Kirtons Farm Road then walking back along Flagstaff Road to the station. Surely making this a public right of way not have been logical?

 

[Towers]

Perhaps so on the "Up" direction, but the "Down" bridge joins the street outside of the station, as illustrated in the photo below (sadly I neglected to take a closer shot). In current cases pedestrians would have to take an unnecessary diversion by continuing down Kirtons Farm Road then walking back along Flagstaff Road to the station. Surely making this a public right of way not have been logical?

Keep in mind that the station has ticket barriers. Additional access points mean extra complexity, and cost, with regards to the gateline.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Keep in mind that the station has ticket barriers.

Are they staffed all day?

 

[crablab]

Keep in mind that the station has ticket barriers. Additional access points mean extra complexity, and cost, with regards to the gateline.

That's not what @LUYMun is suggesting. There's steps up to the road which are entirely outside the gated area, but are closed off and inaccessible. Have a look at the street view for the bridge and you'll see what is meant.

 

[fgwrich]

That's not what @LUYMun is suggesting. There's steps up to the road which are entirely outside the gated area, but are closed off and inaccessible. Have a look at the street view for the bridge and you'll see what is meant.

Eg, it does seem a little odd.

(Screenshot won’t upload but here’s the google maps pin)

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[Siemens Staines]

And Kirtons Farm Road is a single carriageway with no pavement so pedestrians have to walk a few hundreds yard further avoiding cars to get from one end of those steps to the other. I wonder if being right on a council boundary has something to do with it?

 

[Towers]

That's not what @LUYMun is suggesting. There's steps up to the road which are entirely outside the gated area, but are closed off and inaccessible. Have a look at the street view for the bridge and you'll see what is meant.

Ah, my apologies then it that case!

 

[Purple Train]

At last! The paint has dried!

On a more serious note, how well has the station been used in its first week or so of operation?

 

[73128]

booking clerk

At last! The paint has dried!

On a more serious note, how well has the station been used in its first week or so of operation?

At Reading today the booking office clerk sold a ticket to the person in front of me and said that he had sold several.

 

[zwk500]

At Reading today the booking office clerk sold a ticket to the person in front of me and said that he had sold several.

Of course the golden question is how many are curious locals, how many are just bashers ticking it off and how many are serious punters who will use it regularly?

 

[WesternBiker]

Of course the golden question is how many are curious locals, how many are just bashers ticking it off and how many are serious punters who will use it regularly?

I'm guessing the true test will be over time: some from the business park might find it useful (c. 7,000 work there); how large is the Green Park "village" intended to get - I read only around 700 homes, which is a relatively small community?

 

[fandroid]

I visited on Monday from Basingstoke. When I got back to the station at around 4pm there were about half a dozen waiting. Many were construction workers from the new build flats nearest to the station.

 

[Basil Jet]

I visited last night. About half a dozen people got off a train from Reading at 10:30pm, which I thought was impressive for a new station.

The whole station is perfect except for the staircases, which look like they were stored in a swamp for three years. They'd look okay in an old station, but between the spotless platform and spotless footbridge they looked terrible.

Mortimer is a lovely little station, isn't it?

 

[Sunil_P]

Apologies for any duplication, my pics were taken on Tuesday 30th May:

 

[kevin_roche]

Apologies for any duplication, my pics were taken on Tuesday 30th May:

Thank you for the photos. I was planning to go and take a look myself when it opened but personal commitments have prevented me.

 

[Sunil_P]

Thank you for the photos. I was planning to go and take a look myself when it opened but personal commitments have prevented me.

You're welcome!

Still convinced that the "road" bridge at the southern end of the station is an emergency access only, or it seemed that way when I visited! I had hoped to take a view looking north, but the pathway was fenced off!

 

[kevin_roche]

You're welcome!

Still convinced that the "road" bridge at the southern end of the station is an emergency access only, or it seemed that way when I visited! I had hoped to take a view looking north, but the pathway was fenced off!

Last time I was there it was possible to get to the bridge by heading away from the station and taking a right turn then going onto Kirtons Farm Road and walking back along there to the Bridge.

 

[H&I]

First service train to call at RGP this morning was 2J01 05:43 Reading - Basingstoke (165119) and any normal passengers were definitely outnumbered by the enthusiasts. I would say that everybody getting off on that first station call was 100% enthusiasts!

165119 on it’s return worked the first train to call in the ‘up’ direction: 2J04 06:19 Basingstoke-Reading.

An honourable mention in dispatches must go to the bloke who waited all night until staff opened up this morning so he could be the first to buy a ticket on opening day! It wasn’t anybody from on here was it?

That would be me! I took the last Greenwave 50 bus of the day to Green Park the night prior and waited outside the station for 5 hours to be the first passenger to enter the station.

 

[swt_passenger]

You're welcome!

Still convinced that the "road" bridge at the southern end of the station is an emergency access only, or it seemed that way when I visited! I had hoped to take a view looking north, but the pathway was fenced off!

I checked the planning drawings way back, yes but it is only an emergency exit route, a signed emergency exit from the up platform which then provides a route to the station car park and forecourt area. It’s not designed to provide an emergency route to or from the down platform.

But it still strikes me as gold plating. If that minor road and bridge didn’t already exist, would the latest regulations still have required a separate escape route to the front of the station, in addition to the main footbridge? There must be hundreds if not thousands of existing stations where the only real access is on one side.

 

[fandroid]

I checked the planning drawings way back, yes but it is only an emergency exit route, a signed emergency exit from the up platform which then provides a route to the station car park and forecourt area. It’s not designed to provide an emergency route to or from the down platform.

But it still strikes me as gold plating. If that minor road and bridge didn’t already exist, would the latest regulations still have required a separate escape route to the front of the station, in addition to the main footbridge? There must be hundreds if not thousands of existing stations where the only real access is on one side.

The emergency access from the road bridge to the station car park would work even better if there were no gates on it! Someone didn't use what is customarily called common sense. A few pennies would have been saved too