PRO-FORMA BID Tilehurst Station Upgrade Summary and overview Scheme name: Tilehurst Station Upgrade Scheme promoter: Great Western Railway, in collaboration with Reading Borough Council Contact details: (name, email, telephone numbers) Nicola Scott, Regional Development Manager East (Interim), Great Western Railway, 07976 295504 [email protected] Tom Pierpoint, Commercial Development Director (Interim), Great Western Railway [email protected] Chris Maddocks, Acting Strategic Transport Programme Manager, Reading Borough Council [email protected] Brief description of the scheme and the main activities within it: Delivering improved passenger experience and creation of a multi-modal interchange through an upgraded station forecourt with better pedestrian and cycle access, expansion of car parking and increase in secure cycle parking (cycle hub). Location of the scheme: Tilehurst Local Authority: Reading Borough Council Parliamentary Constituency: Reading West Postcode: RG31 6TH Rationale for the scheme and strategic fit How will the scheme contribute to the delivery of Thames Valley Berkshire’s Strategic Economic Plan (SEP)? The proposed scheme at Tilehurst strongly supports key elements of the SEP. Tilehurst station is well- placed as a semi-urban location which offers both a commuting and leisure base of travellers. Given sufficient connectivity, stations can support sustainable economic growth by helping to accommodate increasing travel demand, particularly when growth in private car use is constrained. Stations are a key point of arrival and departure and the quality of the station environment forms part of peoples’ overall Thames Valley Berkshire Call for Bids report November 2019 perception of a town or city. A high-quality station can improve the image of the location it serves, making it a more attractive place to live, work and invest. The current station at Tilehurst is constrained, with poor quality facilities, not conducive to encouraging rail usage. The station is not in a highly visible location and as such is not a vibrant gateway nor easy to navigate to. As a local station, with trips predominantly from the surrounding residential area, the growth potential is for Tilehurst as a feeder station to larger service centres in the Thames Valley and beyond to London or the West. Supporting growth of trips for journeys by rail rather than private vehicle will support the reduction of congestion on the strategic highways network, particularly the A329 Oxford Road. The proposals will deliver an improvement in the quality of the station area, attracting new users to the rail network and opening up new journey opportunities. An expansion of car parking and cycle parking facilities at Tilehurst will give potential customers greater certainty of finding a place to park and attract more customers to use the station. In particular the scheme contributes to the delivery of the SEP by: Supporting Section 1 (3) Labour Supply: Address congestion: The scheme seeks to relieve congestion by attracting more rail users through improved passenger facilities, accessibility, improved perception of safety and security, Park&Rail and drop off facilities and increased cycle parking. Supporting Section 1 (6) Functioning towns: Infrastructure within towns: The project will deliver a high-quality sustainable interchange and improved station environment that will better serve Tilehurst and passengers. It will also provide better connectivity between the station and the town. These improvements will help to increase footfall at the station. Supporting Section 2 Package 6: Access to London Heathrow; Access to London via motorway and rail; Rail links to London Gatwick: The project will support access to strategic rail links including Crossrail (Elizabeth Line), Western Rail Link to Heathrow (WRLtH), improved North Downs Line services to Gatwick and HS2. Supporting Section 3 Promote local sustainable transport networks: The proposal will enhance local sustainable transport networks and will promote active travel to the station, particularly by bicycle. Improved passenger facilities will increase the attractiveness of rail and support modal shift through linking existing pedestrian and cycling routes with the station, to unlock last mile journeys that can be undertaken using active travel modes. Increasing capacity for car parking will discourage private vehicle trips for the full journey and incentivise park and rail journeys, particularly for longer trips. The proposals for the station itself will result in an increase in secure cycle parking. The enhancements at Tilehurst will help to accommodate the forecasted increase in rail passenger growth and will complement the investment made by Government in electrifying the Great Western Mainline and planned investment by Network Rail to make Tilehurst step-free by installing lifts to the overbridge. The scheme supports further development of Tilehurst, including the delivery of housing sites: o 66 dwellings on Stoneham Park site o 35 dwellings on The Ridings site. 2 What is the rationale for the scheme? Tilehurst station has had minimal investment over the years and facilities are tired and no longer fit for purpose. The car park is regularly at capacity, suppressing demand for the station. Occupancy levels in the car park have remained relatively static over the last three years also suggesting that there is not the room for growth at the station and potential rail users may be travelling to other nearby stations, or using other transport modes. The access to the station car park is via a narrow roadway which does not support a good perception of safety for pedestrians and cyclists interacting with vehicles. Similarly cycle parking is also over-subscribed with bicycles regularly chained to platform railings and no secure cycle parking area available for customers. There is a good quality shared walking and cycling path (Route R5) that links to the station, but the access into the station is poor, with no segregation of cyclists and pedestrians. The station forecourt area is congested and there is no designated taxi rank or drop off zone. Utilising the Propensity to Cycle Tool1, the propensity to cycle in the station catchment area is between 2 and 3 %, lower, than the other areas of Reading. Provision of good quality cycle parking and safe cycle routes to destinations is a vital aspect of encouraging people to cycle. The scheme at Tilehurst will offer a much-improved offer for existing cyclists and those new to cycling, which is especially pertinent with the Government focus on active travel modes. Figure 1: Propensity to cycle in the Tilehurst station catchment area The project will also support bus interchanges at Tilehurst to strengthen bus-rail integration, particularly for local services such as the 16 service, reducing reliance on shorter private vehicle trips. 1 https://www.pct.bike/m/?r=berkshire 3 Figure 2: Bus 16 route The project seeks to address the current issues at the station by: • Increasing car parking capacity: preliminary designs indicate that a decked car park can be constructed on the footprint of the existing car park, increasing spaces from 118 to 217 • Segregation of car park and forecourt: to improve safety by creating a new access point for vehicles using the station car park • Upgrading the station forecourt: to include a new shared space for pedestrians and cyclists and a designated taxi and drop off area • New secure cycle parking: creating a new covered and secure cycle area for up to 100 bikes • Improvements to retail offering: an enhanced retail offering at the station, potentially benefitting the rail users, local residents and hikers/walkers using the nearby Thames Path Network Rail is investing in a lift project at the station, which will enable the station to become step-free. The lift project will be delivered as a first phase of the upgrade scheme unlocking rail journeys from Tilehurst for passengers with mobility impairments. The scheme will be delivered in two phases: • Phase 1: Network Rail installation of lifts to existing footbridge, making the station step-free • Phase 2: GWR delivery of station forecourt and car park works What barriers to growth will it address? What is the evidence? Reading and the surrounding towns need a functional and attractive public transport network to continue to grow sustainably. The electrification of the Great Western Mainline, the significant investment and expansion at Reading station, committed investment in Reading West, the proposed 4 development of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), a new station at Green Park and the solid foundation of a high-quality bus service contribute substantially to this. Tilehurst remains a station within the Reading area that does not have investment allocated and as such is deemed to be lagging behind, impacting on the perception of the station and surrounding area. Investment in Tilehurst station will go a long way to creating a gateway for the area and complements and enhances the significant investment in other transport hubs within Reading urban area. Reading Borough Council (RBC) Transport Strategy to 2036 highlights the benefits of a modern, electric railway as a backbone to public transport within the town and by providing a modern and attractive transport hub at Tilehurst, this will give passengers an alternative route into central Reading, instead of the congested Oxford Road. The development of the station will also contribute significantly to journeys into London,