Council Set to Agree Reading Station Subway Refurbishment

COUNCIL plans to refurbish the subway which runs under Reading Station, and remove ceiling tiles that are routinely vandalised, will be considered next week.

Low-hanging ceiling tiles along the important through-route are regularly damaged. They have become not only unsightly, but a maintenance and cost liability for Reading Borough Council since they were inherited from Network Rail in 2013 on completion of the Reading Station redevelopment.

The Council is now proposing to spend more than £200,000 of planning agreement funding (section 106) to remove the low sections of suspended ceiling tiles, protect services ducts and improve headroom clearance, lifting and replacing them. Work will also include minor repairs to floor and wall tiles, along with improved signage.

Under a separately-funded initiative, the Council also intends to replace the underpass lighting with LED lanterns in order to reduce energy consumption and enable remote monitoring and control of lighting, in the context of the Council further reducing its energy consumption as it works towards a net zero carbon Reading by 2030.

Spend approval for the refurbishment of the subway will be considered at a meeting of the Council’s Policy Committee on Thursday December 15  https://democracy.reading.gov.uk/documents/s24400/Allocation%20of%20S106%20Funding%20for%20Reading%20Station%20Subway%20Scheme.pdf If agreed, work to replace the ceiling tiles could begin by Spring 2023.

The planned improvement works sit alongside a proposal by the Council to remove an existing Cycling Prohibition Order which prevents cyclists from legally using the key strategic underpass, which links the Caversham side of Reading Station to the Town Centre side.

When Reading Station subway was opened in 2013 it was Reading Borough Council who insisted on maintaining the north-south pedestrian link through the station, when it was redeveloped by Network Rail. Engineering constraints at the time meant the subway construction included a low suspended ceiling. A Cycling Prohibition Order was subsequently put in place due to height and width clearances being substandard and for the safety of cyclists.

Earlier this year the Council agreed to consult on removing the cycling ban, which would be made possible by the refurbishment works. If this work is agreed, the improved headroom clearance, although still below national guidelines, would allow the Council to accept the position and propose to revoke the historic Cycling Prohibition Order.

The Council consultation on the proposed removal of the cycling ban is expected to begin in January and will be widely publicised at the time.

Tony Page, Reading Borough Council’s Lead Councillor for Climate Strategy and Transport, said:

“The work to remove the historic low ceiling tiles which the Council inherited from Network Rail is long overdue and the identification of more than £200,000 of planning agreement funding negotiated by the Council will now make this possible.

 “Regular users of the underpass will be familiar with the unsightly ceiling tiles which are routinely vandalised. I hope the agreement of this investment next week will make this a thing of the past.

 “The Council is proposing to follow up this substantial investment by removing the historic cycling ban through the underpass, which will be made possible when the lowest tiles are removed. I would urge residents and regular users of the underpass to look out for the public consultation on this proposal in the new year.”