No more jams tomorrow
Momentum is building and everything is progressing well for Network Rail’s £850 million project to upgrade the railway throughout the Reading Station area by 2016. Whether the story about Brunel creating a second-rate design for Reading because his first proposal was declined is true or not, at last the major bottleneck on the Great Western Main Line is undergoing significant changes. This in turn will lead to substantial improvements for the fare-paying passenger; not to mention freight operators.
As was reported in February’s issue of the rail engineer, a new 1,000-tonne bridge deck was successfully manoeuvred into place at Cavendish Road, west of the station, over the Christmas period. And last month Clive Kessell revealed how the antiquated signalling system centred round Reading signal box has been made redundant, with control moving to the Thames Valley Signalling Centre at Didcot. As a consequence of this work, new track layouts can be introduced and ancillary buildings – including the old box – demolished to release significant plots of land on the north side of the railway. All this will pave the way for the next crucial phase of the work – the major refurbishment of the station itself.
Excellent people
The person in charge of the whole scheme is Network Rail’s project director Bill Henry. He emphasised to me that all the success to date was down to the excellent people that he had around him, one of them being Graham Denny, programme manager for all the station works. These are valued in excess of £100 million – a significant sum of money.
Graham explained that a contract was let to Tata Consultancy – formerly Corus – in 2008 for the main design of the station itself. In turn, Tata used architectural consultants Grimshaws to assist them. Over the last two years, a detailed design has been developed which has passed through the various stages of financial approval. It has now reached a point where the final detail design has been signed off. More than 3,000 papers have been prepared and contract documents compiled, ready for the tendering process. I sensed a feeling of relief within the team, knowing that they can at last start to think about implementing the proposals for the station itself; moving into the practical phase of the project, transforming the detailed designs into the finished product; experiencing and enjoying the tangible progress along the way.
The organisations that have been invited to tender for this work are Morgan Sindall, Costain supported by Hochteif (UK) and Laing O’Rourke. Negotiations are expected to be concluded by June and this work is planned to start in August 2011.
Double capacity
Reading Station is not like the majority of the network’s other main line stations. Paddington, Waterloo, Liverpool Street and the like witness huge influxes of passengers heading one way in the morning, then in the other direction later in the day. At Reading, the passenger flow is quite different – at all times of the day, the numbers entering the station are usually similar to those leaving, with approximately 50,000 people passing through daily. Network Rail and First Great Western do not expect this pattern to change but they do forecast a significant and ongoing increase in volume. So the station’s new layout is designed for a doubling of passenger numbers by 2030, with an anticipated flow of 28 million per annum. This is a huge difference and is the driver for the radical changes that will be delivered.
To accommodate both the passengers and associated train flow, an essential element of the design is to provide an appropriate link to all the through platforms. There is an existing subway that could have been modified but there was also a requirement to maintain a public right of way from the north side of the station to the south. On completion of a feasibility study, it was decided to dedicate the subway for this purpose.
Elegant transfer deck
A thrust bore tunnel was ruled out at an early stage as this was too expensive. Eventually, the chosen option was a 30m wide transfer deck that could be accessed by escalator, lift or stairs from all the through platforms. Again, after careful consideration of several alternatives, the final position for the deck will be west of the Grade II listed Three Guineas public house, designed by Brunel and incorporated into the main station buildings on the south side.
The transfer deck will provide additional access to the station from both the north and south. At present the only north-side access is very limited via a bridge from the car park. The land there is owned by three parties – Network Rail, Reading Borough Council (RBC) and the Post Office. It offers an opportunity for all those concerned, especially the council, to introduce significant improvements to this currently derelict area. To that end, RBC is developing plans to enhance the existing road access to the north side of the station as well as relocating bus services to this area, particularly the important link to Heathrow Airport.
Removing old structures
In turn, this development enables the council to address a long-standing concern at the south side of the station. Here, the roadway is supported by an early 20th Century concrete structure which is now redundant and in poor condition. If this could be demolished, the roadway could revert to natural ground level which is 4m below the existing road. This would represent a significant change to the design at the south side of the station and care will clearly have to be taken to ensure that these outline proposals dovetail successfully into the emerging station scheme. Discussions are currently taking place between Network Rail and Reading Borough Council. One of the benefits could be the transformation of the station’s south side by eliminating through traffic.
Back on the north side, a £500,000 contract has been let to Buckingham Demolition for the removal of the signal box, telephone exchange and Royal Mail buildings, together with other ancillary structures. Not only will this allow the construction of a retaining wall to support two island platforms providing four new platform faces, it will also enable the transfer deck to be built in three parts in the newly-created space away from station. The intention is to construct the first third and launch it into place. The second segment will then be built and added to the first, followed by the third section that will complete the structure. With the deck in position, escalators, lifts and stairs to each platform will be assembled on both sides. This work will be completed by May 2013. However, there will be an eight-week interlude in 2012 to accommodate the Olympic Games.
Five new platforms
Once the transfer deck is in service, the existing footbridge will then be closed, having already had supporting columns repositioned to accommodate the new track layout. A temporary 16th platform will emerge but the end result will feature 15 in total – ten will have been totally refurbished whilst five will be new. All will have wrap-over canopy roofs designed to maximise light and air flow. Passenger information systems and facilities will be renewed and Platforms 4 to 15 will be able to accommodate 12-car trains.
At present, the underbridge at Vastern Road, east of the station, is being widened to accommodate the extended Platforms 5 & 6, together with the construction of the new Platform 4 and the additional line that will serve it. Only two tracks will remain between the current Platforms 4 and 8. This will mean that Platform 4’s width will be increased dramatically, greatly improving the flow of passengers through this bottleneck as they reach the station exit.
By 2016, a new viaduct will have been constructed at the west end of the station, designed to carry through trains seamlessly into the station, whilst allowing the ever-increasing freight traffic from Southampton to work its way through without disrupting passenger services – something that happens all too often at present. The track layout will be extensively remodelled and a disused underpass at the east end reopened to improve flows onto the Waterloo route. To accommodate the viaduct, a new train depot will also be built on a site to the north-west of the station.
All the planned work will take into account the aspiration to eventually electrify the Great Western Main Line. For example, discreet fixing points have been incorporated into the design of the new canopies.
Passengers come first
Graham Denny explained to me that, at the outset, justifying the business case was quite straightforward as there are so many faults with the current layout. The benefits are easy to identify; so is the return on the project investment. He also stated that throughout the next phase of work, passengers and trains will not be affected. He emphasised that passengers came first – one of the venture’s most important priorities. This is certainly a worthy aspiration.
When the project is completed, I’m sure passengers will appreciate the benefits that this work will provide. Their train will not be stopped before entering the station and won’t be delayed when it leaves. And hopefully those disembarking will be able to exit the station without fuss or overcrowding – all key elements that are built into the scheme.
Article courtesy of the rail engineer magazine.
