Covid lockdowns have added to the delays to the opening of Green Park Station in Reading.
In its latest update Reading Borough Council has said the long-awaited station will now open this year. The previous planned opening date was Summer 2022 but commissioning by Network Rail can only begin once the construction is complete.
The council says it is now near to completion.
A council spokesperson said: “The delays are a result of a number of issues arising over the past 18 months, including material shortages, Covid impacts to staffing, alongside the challenge and complexity of working adjacent to a live railway track.”
The first application for Green Park Station was approved in 2001. A number of subsequent alterations, new applications and variations were made before funding of £9.15 million was approved by Thames Valley Berkshire LEP’s Local Growth Fund in 2014 which set the funding in motion.
A further £5.6million came from s106 developer contributions. In 2017 the Department for Transport announced a further £2.3m and in 2019 the council secured £2.477m from the Government’s New Stations Fund. There was a further £550,000 from the Local Growth Fund, along with £1.25m from GWR and £2.015m from Network Rail in March this year.
The station will have:
- Two 150m platforms
- A station building
- An overbridge, stairs and lifts
- A bus interchange and cycle parking
- Two car parks, including 12 blue badge spaces and drop-off parking
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