Delayed Theale station upgrade set to begin this month

The station is set to benefit from a £2.9m upgrade including a new ticket office, footbridge and lifts as well as the development of a park-and-rail facility and a new pedestrian entrance from Brunel Road.
Local councillors and the MP for Reading West, Alok Sharma, had welcomed the news when the plans were revealed in June and were told that work on the project was scheduled to begin in October.
Earlier this month a spokesman for First Great Western, James Davis, said: “We are pleased to confirm that work to create a new ticket office, retail unit and car park (or park and ride facility) will begin in January.
"The work was originally planned for the autumn, but has been delayed while we finalise the detailed design and contracts.
"Further plans to enable provision of the lift and bridge, originally due at the same time, are ongoing as we make sure the design delivers value for money."
He added that the delayed start date was likely to have a knock-on effect to the project’s completion date of the end of April this year, saying that the work was “likely to take a short while longer.”
The announcement was met with mixed reaction from the district councillor for Theale, Alan Macro.
He said: “I welcome the start of work but the big concern is the lift and bridge. The big problem at the station is that a great deal of people with movement difficulties or pushchairs find it difficult to get on the platforms because of all the stairs.
“If the ticket office went ahead, and the lifts and bridge did not, we would end up with a booking office in the wrong place. It’s a reasonable distance to walk one end to the other and it would be an awful situation if that occurred.”
Furthermore the upgrade could coincide with the electrification of the western line from London to Wales meaning further work would need to be undertaken at the station.
Mr Macro said that the electrification was an issue as it would mean heightening the railway bridge and footbridge, which would cause disruption to local roads and businesses.
“The only access to the area are over the railway or canal bridges. The canal bridge has a 7.5 tonne weight limit and a width limit, so commercial vehicles cannot use that.”
A spokeswoman for Network Rail, Anne-Marie Batson said: “It remains our aspirations to improve the accessibility at Theale station. Currently we are working closely with FGW to support their delivery of this scheme, which is being finalised and awaiting approval from the government.
Enabling works for electrification on the adjacent bridge will be carried out in June and if possible, we aim to integrate the delivery of the scheme into one programme.”