Reading station

[Bletchleyite]

It really is very nice, isn't it? Reminds me of Bern Hbf with the wooden ceilings.

One moan, though; there are quite a lot of hard to clean (high up) horizontal services already accumulating filth, and the plastic "blow up" roof parts look dirty and yellowing already. So some typical British design flaws, too.

And why was nothing at all done with the rathole of an old concourse? It even has two roof windows boarded up with ply.

 

[civ-eng-jim]

One moan? I counted at least 3 or 4 there.

 

[tsr]

Many stations have mismatching refurbs of station concourses and platforms. An example of it being the other way round is Epsom, though it is not on the same scale as Reading, by any means. The station concourse and car park were refurbished, shops and flats and suchlike added, and then they forgot to do anything to do with the platforms, such as the stupid placement of the lifts, or the tiny waiting rooms, or the terrible public toilets, or the messrooms. (That refurb was done by Solum, who have drawn up plans for other stations which may or may not see reality.)

I do like the new bits of Reading, but worse than the clash in eras is that the concourse shops and outlets do feel very detached from the main station, and various parts of it make it certainly not the warmest place to wait in winter, either. I dread to think what their energy ratings must be like.

The station's high ceilings and sweeping structures also give the impression of space, but this does lead to disappointment when people cram onto the one escalator they can find to get them to their allotted coach, for example.

 

[Howezy_21]

when people cram onto the one escalator they can find to get them to their allotted coach, for example.

I know this all too well, even off a 3 car turbo in the morning a horde of people will form around the closest escalator because a lot of them believe closest is quickest. When its actually quicker to go to the escalator at the other end of the platform, especially when said escalator is broken so everyone has to walk up it.

 

[Mordac]

Many stations have mismatching refurbs of station concourses and platforms. An example of it being the other way round is Epsom, though it is not on the same scale as Reading, by any means. The station concourse and car park were refurbished, shops and flats and suchlike added, and then they forgot to do anything to do with the platforms, such as the stupid placement of the lifts, or the tiny waiting rooms, or the terrible public toilets, or the messrooms. (That refurb was done by Solum, who have drawn up plans for other stations which may or may not see reality.)

I do like the new bits of Reading, but worse than the clash in eras is that the concourse shops and outlets do feel very detached from the main station, and various parts of it make it certainly not the warmest place to wait in winter, either. I dread to think what their energy ratings must be like.

The station's high ceilings and sweeping structures also give the impression of space, but this does lead to disappointment when people cram onto the one escalator they can find to get them to their allotted coach, for example.

They can't be as bad as at Antrim station:



I don't think I've ever seen a worse energy rating anywhere!

 

[coppercapped]

It really is very nice, isn't it? Reminds me of Bern Hbf with the wooden ceilings.

One moan, though; there are quite a lot of hard to clean (high up) horizontal services already accumulating filth, and the plastic "blow up" roof parts look dirty and yellowing already. So some typical British design flaws, too.

And why was nothing at all done with the rathole of an old concourse? It even has two roof windows boarded up with ply.

There are at least three issues here.
The first is designing building which have dirt traps in difficult to reach places. This is not so noticeable inside a stone cathedral, but very obvious on a painted surface. To keep the place nice needs maintenance - in another example some of the adhesive letters are coming off some of the heavily used public signs to waiting rooms and the like. Such maintenance can be done, there is a recently built shopping arcade in the town centre called The Oracle - it's now been opened a dozen years or so, has a huge footfall and yet looks (very nearly) as fresh as the day it was opened.

I can't say I've noticed the transparent roofs becoming yellow - as it's the same material used in the Eden Project in Cornwall that must be going yellow as well. Are they regularly replaced there or does the Cornish air keep them clean?

The 1989 concourse wasn't touched, apart from the removal of the front doors to get canopy sections into the site when the station was being rebuilt (and which were replaced by less attractive fittings) because money was very tight. It was, apparently, touch and go to get Platform 7 built out over the path of the old Down Main line in order to widen the passageways between the 1989 concourse and the lifts and escalators to the footbridge. Similarly I think BR was strapped for cash in the late 1980s as the roof has never been really satisfactory and keeps needing attention. It never gets enough.

My own moan is that what is disappointing with the new structure is that one would have expected the footbridge to be 'inside' whereas it is in fact 'outside'. During inclement weather it is draughty, cold and wet. I was told at one of the 'Meet the Manager' meetings held at the time that this was because the cost of the additional fire safety and emergency exits which would be needed if the space were to be enclosed was not affordable. The original artists impressions showed glass screens on each side of the stairs/escalators between the platforms and the bridge which would have given some more protection - but these did not make it to the finished building.

Don't you love regulations...

PS. Operationally the station is very much better than before. Trains on the Down Main have a choice of up to 3 platforms so the days of trains queuing back to Sonning Cutting are long gone. Parallel moves in the Up direction on the Mains from both the Didcot and Reading West directions are possible and the cross-country freight services no longer constrict the operation of the Mains west of the station. All in all, very good, except for the draughty bridge...

 

[Jsm]

Many stations have mismatching refurbs of station concourses and platforms. An example of it being the other way round is Epsom, though it is not on the same scale as Reading, by any means. The station concourse and car park were refurbished, shops and flats and suchlike added, and then they forgot to do anything to do with the platforms, such as the stupid placement of the lifts, or the tiny waiting rooms, or the terrible public toilets, or the messrooms. (That refurb was done by Solum, who have drawn up plans for other stations which may or may not see reality.)

I went into Epsom station for the first time in well over ten years a few months ago and I was majorly disappointed, after seeing it be refurbed and going past it regularly I assumed the inside of it had been changed. It felt like a throwback to the 90s when I walked through the door.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I went into Epsom station for the first time in well over ten years a few months ago and I was majorly disappointed, after seeing it be refurbed and going past it regularly I assumed the inside of it had been changed. It felt like a throwback to the 90s when I walked through the door.

All they did was the ticket hall really; all the rest of the "refurbishment" was actually the new buildings outside for the flats, budget hotel and a few shops. Oh - plus a new roof over the staircases.

Reading, on the other hand, as the OP states, has been done really well and it has been turned from what was, quite frankly, a dump into a real showpiece for the network.