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Friday 28 Mar 2025

Reading station celebrates its historic past and bright future as it turns 185-years-old

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Reading station turns 185-years-old this week, having opened its doors in 1840 as a temporary terminus for Brunel’s Great Western Railway while engineers continued building the line to Bristol, the eventual final stop on the line. Passengers are invited to join the station team and community members from 3pm-5pm today (Friday 28 March) to mark the occasion, with live music and a railway-related exhibition as the star attractions.

In marking its 185^th year, Reading station has much to celebrate. Since the launch of Network Rail’s performance improvement plan for the Thames Valley in February 2024, there has been a 21% reduction in delays in the area, following 12 months of intensive work to replace worn equipment and make the line more resilient.

Earlier this month, the Department for Transport came to Reading station to launch its nationwide initiative to make performance numbers more transparent for the public, with data on train punctuality and the number of cancelled services now available on screens at stations across the country.

As well as celebrating 185 years of the railway in Reading, the station is also marking its 10^th year since a huge redevelopment project was completed. Those improvements included a new track layout, which removed congestion caused by an increase in passenger and freight services. A mile-long viaduct was constructed to the west of the station for fast trains, replacing a junction and helping to reduce delays by separating the fast mainlines from the relief and freight lines. Following the extensive work, the Queen came to Berkshire to open the newly upgraded station.

Since then, Reading station has seen the introduction of GWR’s fleet of electric trains in 2018, as well as the start of Elizabeth line services in 2022. All of this means that more trains then ever before are serving passengers at the station.

This increase in services has meant that retail sales at the station have exceeded the national increase of 7% across Network Rail’s 19 stations in the quarter covering October to December 2024, with sales at Reading increasing by 10.4%.

Marcus Jones, Network Rail’s Western route director, said: “In celebrating Reading station’s 185^th birthday, we’re proud to recognise its important role in connecting people across the country for generations.

“With the introduction of Elizabeth line services three years ago, more trains than ever before are stopping at Reading, helping to promote growth for local businesses and highlighting the station’s importance as a commuter and transport hub.

“With such a rich railway history, we’re proud to mark 185 years of Reading station, and look forward to seeing what the future brings as we continue to work with our partners to improve train performance and passenger experience.”

The station team and members of the local community will celebrate at the station today, as a new commemorative plaque is unveiled to mark the occasion as part of Railway 200 – a year’s worth of events highlighting 200 years of train travel in Britain. The GWR band will be on hand to provide live music, and an exhibition of railway-related images will take place in the Brunel Arcade – kindly donated for the day by Reading Museum.