NETWORK Rail has announced that works to improve accessibility at a small train station in Reading are approaching completion.
Efforts to install lifts at Tilehurst train station are nearly finished, after getting underway early this year.
They’re now expected to be finished this winter.
Three lifts will be added to the station, providing step-free access to all four of the station’s platforms for the first time.
Work carried out by contractors Dyer and Butler has so far seen the installation of seven-tonne, 12-meter-high shafts put in place on all platforms as well as steel spans to provide a walkway between lifts and the bridge already in place.
The shafts now need to be clad, spans installed, and the lifts themselves put in place.
Work has been conducted in small stages to keep passenger disruption to a minimum.
Network Rail’s lead portfolio manager, Alex Phillips, said: “This is an important milestone for us and completes a complicated phase of the project.
“Moving material and machines across four lines of electrified railway has needed patience. Platform four is also very close to the River Thames, which really limits our team’s space to work.
“But we’re a step closer to making Tilehurst easier to use than ever before.”
Dyer and Butler regional manager Russell Richards said: “Our teams have put in a lot of hard work over the last eight months in reaching this important milestone.
“Much of the work during this period is not visible as it’s buried beneath the existing platforms and forms the foundations for the lift towers.
“All this work has been delivered within a busy station, while maintaining uninterrupted passenger flows and having no impact on trains.
“We look forward to the next phase of the project including the installation and commissioning of the lifts.”
Reading Borough Council’s Lead Councillor for Climate Strategy and Transport, John Ennis, said: “It is great that work is progressing well to install the new lifts at Tilehurst railway station.
“The lifts will make a big difference to residents who have mobility issues, local parents with push chairs and passengers with heavy luggage who use the station.
“The Council is pleased to continue working with our railway partners to improve station facilities for Reading residents as part of our commitment to provide realistic sustainable transport alternatives for travelling into and around Reading.”
