Ashridge Interchange  

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   best possible traffic solution for Wokingham for the least overall environmental impact."

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Office of Rail Regulation report on level crossings February 2007

Network Rail Route 3 - South West Lines

Network Rail Route 13 - Great Western Main Line

Network Rail's 2007 Business Plan, published on 3rd April, commits to lengthened trains through Wokingham.

Linked to the Business Plan are separate documents covering each major route:

Route 3 is for the South West Lines, while

Route 13 is for the Great Western Main Line.

The South West Lines document shows that it continues to follow the 2006 Route Utilisation Strategy: "It is recommended that the entire suburban network is extended for ten-car operation by 2014, beginning with the Windsor and Reading lines which are the most crowded."

Happily, since Autumn 2008 there is now a commitment to fund the lengthening of Platforms 4a and 4b at Reading to take 12-coach trains, which will happen once the Vastern Road bridge has been widened to take an extra track. Currently, trains for Platforms 4a and 4b must use a single track over this bridge.

Network Rail states:

"The requirement to lengthen the services, and platforms where necessary, is phased across a number of years:
• Windsor line platforms to 10 car by 2012;
• other suburban platforms to 10 car by 2014; and
• all platforms to 12 car by the time of Waterloo re-signalling, currently expected in the 2020s."

Also:

"Some platforms will be lengthened to accommodate 12 car trains while the 10 car facility is being constructed to minimise later disruption."

- We need to make sure that this happens at Wokingham Station as soon as possible.

In a separate announcement in March 2007, Transport Minister Douglas Alexander promised Government funding for another 1,000 carriages to lengthen trains across the entire network.   

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