Trains at Reading, GWML & SWML, 01/05/26

Reading railway station is a major transport hub in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is on the northern edge of the town centre, near the main retail and commercial areas and the River Thames, 36 miles (58 km) from London Paddington.

Reading is the ninth-busiest station in the UK outside London, and the second busiest interchange station outside London, with over 3.8 million passengers changing trains at the station annually.

The first Reading station was opened on 30 March 1840 as the temporary western terminus of the original line of the Great Western Railway (GWR). The time taken to travel from London to Reading was reduced to one hour and five minutes, less than a quarter of the time taken by the fastest stagecoach.

The line was extended to its intended terminus at Bristol in 1841. As built, Reading station was a typical Brunel-designed single-sided intermediate station, with separate up and down platforms situated to the south of the through tracks and arranged so that all up trains calling at Reading had to cross the route of all down through trains.

In 1844, the Great Western Hotel was opened across the Forbury Road for people visiting the town. It is thought to be the oldest surviving railway hotel in the world.

New routes soon joined the London to Bristol line, with the line from Reading to Newbury and Hungerford opening in 1847, and the line to Basingstoke in 1848.

Between 1865 and 1867, a station building, built of buff bricks from Coalbrookdale with Bath Stone dressings, and incorporating a tower and clock, was constructed for the Great Western Railway.

Sources differ as to whether this was a new building, or remodelling of an earlier Brunel building.

In 1898 the single sided station layout was replaced by a conventional design with 'up', 'down' and 'relief' platforms linked by a pedestrian subway.

Access to the station from Broad Street was not direct, until Queen Victoria Street was built in 1903. This provided a route through to Friar Street and Station Road.

The station was originally named Reading and became Reading General on 26 September 1949 to distinguish it from the neighbouring ex-South Eastern Railway station.

From 6 September 1965, services from the former Reading Southern station were diverted into a newly constructed terminal platform (4A) in the General station. This was long enough for a single eight coach train, which was later found to be inadequate, and so a second terminal platform (4B) serving the same line was opened in 1975 for the commencement of the service from Reading to Gatwick Airport.

In 1989 a brand new station concourse was opened by InterCity, including a shopping arcade named after Brunel, opened on the western end of the old Reading Southern station site, linked to the platforms of the main station by a new footbridge. At the same time a new multi-level station car park was built on the site of the former goods yard and signal works to the north of the station, and linked to the same footbridge.

The station facilities in the 1860s station building were converted into The Three Guineas public house. Elizabeth II reopened the station on 4 April 1989.

Trains transferring between the Relief lines and the lines that run through Reading West (to Taunton and to Basingstoke) had to cross the Main lines. Those trains, especially slow-moving freight trains, blocked the paths of express.

Duration of the video: 15:54 - 17:46

We’ll be seeing services by Great Western Railway, Cross Country, South Western Railway, Elizabeth Line and possibly some freight as well.

I hope you enjoyed this video if you did smash that like button and don’t forget to subscribe for more upcoming videos and feel free to leave any comments or recommendations of stations that you would like for me to do in the comments below as I’ll try respond back to them as soon as possible.

It’s been at least a few years roughly since I last revisited Reading however it’s always an enjoyable station to come and visit though however I got to Reading later than expected but there was some ongoing disruption but it didn’t cause that many issues at least I managed to see some special stuff that made an appearance such as a railtour that recently terminated in from Manchester Victoria then heading back out towards Wembley and a South Western Railway 701 with some special advertisement livery.

My next station will be Ashford International which is situated on the Southeastern Mainline and also a part of the HS1 network it’s been a very long time since I last revisited Ashford International but I’m sure it’ll be enjoyable so until then thanks for watching and I’ll see you in the next video.