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Monday 6 Jul 2020

Toilets at Reading station reopened following major refurbishment

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

The toilets at Reading station have reopened to the public today (6 July), following a £380,000 major refurbishment of the facilities, during the recent lockdown.

The new, revamped, toilets have been furnished with high-quality materials and state-of-the-art plumbing systems to manage the needs of the 25 million passengers who pass through the station each year. Facilities for passengers with reduced mobility have also been upgraded, along with baby changing facilities.

The male and female toilets have benefitted from new tiling, new flooring, new toilets with flush sensors, new sinks and brand-new Dyson hand dryers. The men’s facilities have also benefitted from individual urinals.

Both sets of toilets also contain new artwork, reflecting Reading town centre.

Andy Phillips, Network Rail’s station manager for Reading station, said:

“This investment is part of our ongoing work to make Reading station a welcoming, accessible and pleasant place for passengers, as part of our ‘Putting Passengers First’ programme. While we’ve maintained and repaired the existing facilities over the years, a complete overhaul was needed and this is what we have delivered.

“This refurbishment work will provide people with clean, modern, reliable and comfortable facilities that benefit the second busiest interchange station outside of London.”

The attended toilets are open to passengers, free of charge, between 7am and 7pm every day.

Other improvements at the station have taken place other last few months, including new customer information screens, hand sanitiser units across the station and the repainting of all waiting rooms.

Reading station recently celebrated its 180^th birthday in March of this year. A graphic timeline artwork is still visible at the station.

In 2019, Reading station took the top spot in overall satisfaction (94%) in the National Rail Passenger Survey.