Reading Southern railway station was opened as the western terminus of the
South Eastern Railway's route from , a junction station at the time of opening known as Reigate Junction in south-east
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, having direct links thence to
Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
port,
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
(a resort and fellow industrious town) and London Bridge. The station was referred to for exactly one century by an identical name to its neighbour, 'Reading', until 1949. Seven years after its opening the station expanded its uses by becoming the terminus of a new company's
Waterloo to Reading line
Waterloo most commonly refers to:
* Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat
* Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place.
Waterloo may also refer to:
Other places
Antarctica
*King George Island (S ...
from
London Waterloo station
Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a London station group, central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo, London, Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connecte ...
. This mid-length line added to the town's connections with more intermediate stops, beyond nearby
Wokingham
Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell.
History
Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may als ...
and mid-south parts of
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
which had been directly served by the station and added a competing service, approximately one third longer in distance to a London terminus than the adjacent Great Western Railway.
The station closed for all purposes in 1970 when its demolition began. It was adjacent to, and to the south-east of, the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
's Reading General station known since the other station's closure as
Reading railway station
Reading railway station is a major transport hub in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is on the northern edge of the town centre, near the main retail and commercial areas and the River Thames, from .
Reading is the ninth-busiest station in th ...
. Part of the latter's 1989-built concourse is on the site of the west end frontage of the demolished Southern station.
History
Construction and early years
The original route of the
South Eastern Railway (SER) was from
London Bridge station
London Bridge is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Southwark, south-east London. It occupies a large area on three levels immediately south-east of London Bridge, from which it takes its name. The m ...
to
Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
, which took a route through so that several compass point sector-based companies could share the same lines and engineering (including a substantial tunnel) through the
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and ...
. The line from Reading to Redhill was built by the Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway (RG&RR), and was opened in 1849: the section from Reading to
Farnborough Farnborough may refer to:
Australia
* Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone
United Kingdom
* Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England
** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...
was opened on 4 July 1849, with the last section being opened on 15 October. From the start, the RG&RR was worked by the SER, which leased it from 16 July 1846, and absorbed it in 1852. When the first section of line opened, the SER trains served a temporary station north of Reading's Forbury Road before moving into a permanent terminal, about west, on 30 August 1855.
Reading had been served by the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
(GWR) since 1840. The competing 1855 SER station was west of Vastern Road, on the corner of Blagrave Street and Station Road, adjacent to but south-east of the GWR station, and at a lower level.
The Staines, Wokingham & Woking Junction Railway (SW&WJR) opened a line between the existing London to Windsor line station of in Middlesex (today in northern Surrey) and in Berkshire on 9 July 1856; the SW&WJR was worked by the
London and South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...
(LSWR), and they were authorised to run over the SER into Reading. In this way Reading gained a service into
London Waterloo station
Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a London station group, central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo, London, Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connecte ...
. The SW&WJR was absorbed by the LSWR in 1878.
The original station did not last long, since it was destroyed by fire in 1859 after being struck by lightning. A replacement was built, which had two platform faces; it was enlarged in 1896 by the provision of two more faces following the resiting of the locomotive shed.
At the opening, there were four trains a day to (then known as Reigate Junction), two of which continued to ; a through service to
London Bridge
Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...
began in 1852, and in 1853, two more were added.
The middle period
![Bere Alston, Reading & Wokingham RJD 64](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Bere_Alston%2C_Reading_%26_Wokingham_RJD_64.jpg)
In 1899 the South Eastern Railway handed over its operations to a new organisation co-owned with the
London, Chatham and Dover Railway
The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and nor ...
(LCDR), which traded as the
South Eastern and Chatham Railway
The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee (SE&CRCJMC),Awdry (1990), page 199 known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR), was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Easter ...
(SE&CR); the line and station continued to be owned and maintained by the SER. In 1923, the LSWR and SER amalgamated, together with other railways including the LCDR (and thus the SE&CR), to form the
Southern Railway (SR), which assumed complete control of Reading station and its approaches.
In 1900, there were ten trains each weekday from Waterloo to Reading; by 1914 there were 14, and in 1922, 18. The services tended to be irregular, until the electrification of the inner suburban lines from Waterloo during 1915–16 brought a clock-face pattern to those services, in order to make it easy for people who did not understand timetables; the steam-hauled services, such as those to Reading, had to fit in (there were eight electric trains per hour on the Reading line as far as ) and so became more regular.
During the Dunkirk evacuation (27 May-4 June 1940), 293 special trains arrived at Reading from the Channel ports, most of which were handed over to the GWR.
After the War, there was only one train from Reading to London via the SER route, the 7.27am to
London Bridge
Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...
, which arrived at 9.49, and the 5.25pm return, arriving back at Reading at 7.59. Three coaches sufficed between Reading and Redhill; but by 1960, six were required. The locomotive was normally a
Schools class 4-4-0 based at Redhill.
At Nationalisation, the Southern Railway effectively became the
Southern Region of British Railways
The Southern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948 until 1992 when railways were re-privatised. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s. The region covered south London, southern England and the sout ...
, and things continued more or less as before; but the station (originally named simply ''Reading'') was renamed ''Reading South'' on 26 September 1949, to distinguish it from the adjacent
Western Region (ex-GWR) station (which became ''Reading General'' at the same time).
Later years and closure
Reading South was renamed again on 11 September 1961, becoming ''Reading Southern''. The station remained independent of Reading General for several years following Nationalisation, but was transferred to Western Region control in March 1965; within a few months the two stations shared a common station manager. Soon the new management decided to spend £250,000 on improvements at Reading General, which included works to divert the Waterloo and
Guildford
Guildford ()
is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
services into the latter station, which would allow the Southern station to be closed.
In the station's final arrangement, there were four platforms; east of Vastern Road were a locomotive depot on the north side of the line, and a goods shed and sidings on the south side.
The passenger station was closed on 6 September 1965, with services being diverted into Reading General; most (including all the electric services) then used a newly built platform 4A at the latter station, which was long enough for an eight-coach train. It was intended that the non-electric (Guildford line) services would use the older platforms at Reading General; but in practice, these used platform 4A as well. Freight continued to be handled until September 1970, when all goods services were withdrawn except for the
Huntley & Palmers
Huntley & Palmers is a British company of biscuit makers originally based in Reading, Berkshire. Formed by Joseph Huntley in 1822, the company became one of the world's first global brands (chiefly led by George Palmer who joined in 1841) and r ...
biscuit traffic, which lasted until April 1979.
After demolition the site of the passenger station was used as a car park for Reading General. In 1989 a new concourse for
Reading station
Reading railway station is a major transport hub in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is on the northern edge of the town centre, near the main retail and commercial areas and the River Thames, from .
Reading is the ninth-busiest station in th ...
was built on the site, and no trace now remains of the former SER station.
Connections between the SER and GWR routes
The first connection, in length, was laid in from some sidings on the north side of the GWR line, burrowing under that line, connecting with the SER line facing east; none of it was owned by the SER: the LSWR owned the easternmost and the GWR the remainder. It connected into the GWR main line to the west of the station, and since there were no platforms on the connection, it was primarily used for goods trains, being first used on 1 December 1858.
A second connection was built to the west of the first one, and was opened on 17 December 1899. This was quite steep.
A third connection to the east of the previous two was opened on 26 May 1941, and like the second allowed trains stopping in the GWR station to run to or from the SER line.
When the SER station closed in 1965, the connection built in 1899 was relaid to allow the services over the former SER line to run into the newly built Platform 4A at
Reading General.
Locomotive depot
The SER built an engine shed adjacent to the station in 1852. It was replaced by another structure in 1875, and re-roofed in the early 1950s. Like the station, it closed in 1965.
The 1875 depot was constructed on the north side of the line, situated to the east of Vastern Road between the SER and GWR lines. It had a brick-built shed, with three tracks, one of which was used by the LSWR. The turntable was replaced in 1926 by one of diameter. On 15 October 1898, the SER had 22 locomotives allocated to Reading. Normally, about twenty locomotives were based at Reading; the allocation fell from 22 to 17 upon electrification in 1939. Locomotive classes allocated in 1950 were mostly ex-SECR types: they included eight 2-6-0s of the
SR U class
The SR U class are 2-6-0 steam locomotives designed by Richard Maunsell for passenger duties on the Southern Railway (SR). The class represented the penultimate stage in the development of the Southern Railway's 2-6-0 "family", which improved u ...
; seven 4-4-0s, mostly of the
SECR D class
The SECR D class is a class of 4-4-0 tender locomotives designed by Harry Wainwright for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway.
Overview
The construction of the initial 20 engines was shared between Ashford railway works and the Glasgow bu ...
; and two 0-6-0T shunting engines of the
SECR R1 class
The SER R class was a class of 0-6-0T locomotives on the South Eastern Railway.
History
For many years the South Eastern Railway (SER) had possessed very few locomotives designed for shunting. When trains were to be shunted, this was usuall ...
. The duties of the two tank engines included piloting the station, shunting the goods yard and banking goods trains up to . Following Nationalisation, the code 70E was allotted to Reading depot in 1950, which it retained until 1959, when it became a sub-shed of Basingstoke. The depot was reduced in importance in May 1954, when most of the locomotives were transferred away leaving just two shunting engines, but complete closure did not occur until January 1965.
Electrification
![2-bil emu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/2-bil_emu.jpg)
Since 1903 the Southern Railway and its constituents had pursued a policy of electrification, which began with the routes closest to the London termini and gradually worked outwards. On the LSWR's
Waterloo to Reading Line
Waterloo most commonly refers to:
* Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat
* Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place.
Waterloo may also refer to:
Other places
Antarctica
*King George Island (S ...
, electric trains had reached on 25 October 1915 and on 30 January 1916; was reached (the
Hounslow Loop Line
The Hounslow Loop Line is a railway line in southwest London which was opened by the London and South Western Railway in 1850. It leaves the Waterloo to Reading Line at Barnes Junction and after some seven and a half miles rejoins it at a trian ...
) on 12 March 1916. The policy was continued by the Southern Railway from 1923, and on 6 July 1930, electrification was extended to
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
, which included the Reading line as far as . Electric trains reached on 3 January 1937, and in that year, several electrification schemes were proposed by the
Southern Railway, which included the route from Virginia Water to Reading. As part of these works, new berthing sidings were provided at Reading. The electric service from
Waterloo to Reading was introduced on 1 January 1939; trains were every 20 minutes at peak times and every 30 minutes off-peak and on Sundays. Most trains ran non-stop between Waterloo and Staines, and on the outward journey they divided at Ascot (with one portion continuing to
Guildford
Guildford ()
is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
via ), whilst on the London-bound trip, the two portions would be combined again at Ascot. The total journey time from Waterloo to Reading was reduced from 90 minutes to 75.
New electric trains were built for these services, which consisted of two-coach units; up to four units could be coupled to make a train of up to eight coaches. Each coach of a unit had the seating in compartments, flanked by a driving cab at one end and a lavatory at the other, and there was a side corridor (although there were no gangway connections between the coaches); this was to allow the passengers access to the lavatory. One of the coaches had both first- and third-class compartments, and seated 24 in first-class and 32 in third; the other coach had only third-class, seating 52, but also had a brake section for the guard and luggage, together with the
traction motor
A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric vehicle, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple unit.
Traction motors are used in electrically powered rail vehicles (ele ...
s. The units were known as the "
2-BIL" type.
The electric trains bore headcodes to inform both passengers and staff of the route, origin and destination of the train, but not necessarily the direction. Several were used: for example, in March 1939, trains running between Waterloo and Reading bore number 27 if running via Brentford, or 28 if running via Richmond. The main codes remained unchanged for several years but there were occasional amendments particularly for special trains; in the 1950s, specials between Reading and were no. 18, and in 1961, specials between Reading and
Bognor
Bognor Regis (), sometimes simply known as Bognor (), is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns i ...
or were no. 41 if running via Ascot, Aldershot, Guildford and ; or 42 if via , and Havant. If the train was equipped to show only letters as headcodes instead of numbers, letter L was used for all services between Reading and Ascot or Waterloo, sometimes with two dots or a bar above the letter to denote different destinations or routes.
The sidings at Reading were used to stable electric trains overnight and at off-peak hours; for example, in Summer 1955, six 2-BIL units would be left in the sidings overnight.
Dieselisation
![Diesel-electric unit at Reading - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Diesel-electric_unit_at_Reading_-_geograph.org.uk_-_531938.jpg)
Unlike the
line to Waterloo via Bracknell, the
North Downs Line
The North Downs Line is a passenger-train line connecting Reading, on the Great Western Main Line, to Redhill and , along the Brighton Main Line, linking many centres of population in that part of the North Downs which it traverses en route.
...
to Redhill was not electrified beyond Wokingham, apart from short stretches shared with other routes. The first
Beeching report Beeching is an English surname. Either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames' ...
recommended curtailing the passenger service at Guildford and the closure of all stations between Shalford and Betchworth inclusive. The second Beeching report recommended that the whole of the North Downs Line should be developed as a trunk route for freight services. The passenger service along the entire line was however reprieved, provided that costs could be reduced. The steam-hauled services were to be withdrawn, but money was not available for new Diesel trains. Instead, in 1964, six three-car trains were provided by putting together spare coaches from elsewhere on the network: twelve came from disbanded
6-S units on the Hastings line, six of which had Diesel engines and driving cabs; there were also six driving trailers from
2-EPB electric trains available. One coach of each type was coupled together to form a three-car unit; these were officially designated the
3-R units, but were popularly known as "tadpoles" because the former EMU driving trailer was noticeably wider than the two Hastings coaches.
The Diesel service was introduced between Reading and on 4 January 1965. The Redhill line timetable was totally recast; there was no longer a London service, and most services now ran all the way to . The service was second-class only, with a normal off-peak service interval of 60 minutes. Most trains consisted of one "tadpole" unit, but a few services were operated using
BRCW Type 3 Diesel locomotives hauling three ordinary coaches.
Accidents
On 12 September 1855, a light engine (i.e. an engine running alone, without a train) was sent from Reading to Guildford on the down line, even though it was to travel in the up direction. After running for about a mile, it collided with the 4.40 pm service from London Bridge to Reading, which was running correctly on the down line. The driver of the light engine and four passengers were killed; ten more were seriously injured, and three of those died later in hospital.
Routes
See also
*
London and South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...
*
Reading railway station
Reading railway station is a major transport hub in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is on the northern edge of the town centre, near the main retail and commercial areas and the River Thames, from .
Reading is the ninth-busiest station in th ...
*
Reading West railway station
Reading West railway station serves West Reading, Berkshire, about west from the town's main retail and commercial areas. The station is served by local services operated by Great Western Railway. It is down the line the zero point at . His ...
*
South Eastern and Chatham Railway
The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee (SE&CRCJMC),Awdry (1990), page 199 known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR), was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Easter ...
*
South Eastern Railway
*
Southern Railway
Notes
References
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Further reading
*Nock (1965) ''The London & South Western Railway''
*Williams (1968) ''The London & South Western Railway, vol. 1''
*Williams (1973) ''The London & South Western Railway, vol. 2''
External links
Subterranea Britannica: Reading Southern Station
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reading Southern Railway Station
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1855
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1965
Disused railway stations in Berkshire
Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations
1855 establishments in England
1965 disestablishments in England