First new Reading station in 116 years finally opens

The long awaited Reading Green Park Station,will open officially this Saturday (May 27) to serve Great Western Railway trains running between Reading main station and Basingstoke.

Prior to it serving as an alighting point for passengers, a ceremony was held today (May 25) to celebrate the end of the project.

The station is the first engagement for new mayor of Reading councillor Tony Page (Labour, Abbey).

Celebrating the occasion, cllr Page said: “I’m very pleased that this, my first mayoral engagement is the opening of this station.

“It’s a project with which I’ve had association going back over a quarter of a century in various roles.”

READ MORE: First new station in Reading for over 100 years opens in May

The opening of the station has been a long time coming, as outline planning approval for it was granted all the way back in 2001.

There were inital hopes that the station would be open in the summer of 2019, despite delays in electrifying the Reading to Basingstoke railway line.

However, further issues hit the project causing the potential opening date to be reinstated to 2020. Then the pandemic happened, which stalled the project further.

Reading Mayor Councillor Tony Page (Labour, Abbey) waves off the train from Green Park Station. Credit: Reading Borough Council

A testament to ongoing teething issues, the train that arrived at Green Park was diesel powered. That fact was not lost on cllr Page in his speech.

He said: “I had hoped originally  that when the station opened it would be served only by electric trains.

“That’s another government mismanaged and bungled project.

“Nonetheless, we still have aspirations for a fully electrified line along here, because it’s critically important in delivering an agenda of our sustainability and net zero objectives that the railways are fully electrified.”

The Reading to Basingstoke line was meant to be electrified in 2017 but the electrification project was pushed back.

The ceremony involved a plaque unveiling by cllr Page and Mark Hopwood, the managing director of Great Western Railway.

Mark Hopwood, managing director of Great Western Railway with Reading Mayor Councillor Tony Page (Labour, Abbey) at Green Park Station. Credit: Reading Borough Council

Mr Hopwood said: “Travel in a way that’s sustainable in a world that increasingly needs to deliver on net zero carbon goals is really important.

“We’ve already been able to bring together national government, local government, the business community the railway industry and the local community.”

Trains will be running from the station every half an hour to Reading main station and Basingstoke.

Great to see what I assume is the first train to stop at Reading's Green Park Station, the first new station in the town for 116 years! It will begin to take stopping services this Saturday #rdguk pic.twitter.com/c0BNswguf1

— James Aldridge (@jamesAjourno) May 25, 2023

Green Park Station is the first new station in Reading for 116 years, since Reading West station opened in 1906.

Funding for the station has come in from a variety of streams, including Department of Transport grants, investment from developer contributions and millions in funding from the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership.