Reading – visible signs of change, but are passengers on board? | Rail engineering works

26 October 2012

Going through Reading yesterday it was good to see the new station emerging. Also evidence of the new depot being built with, yes, the future is now, overhead electric wires going up. There is a huge amount of work planned on the railways in the next few years – very welcome investment. How the work is done and how passengers are kept informed is crucial. Our new report on passenger attitudes to engineering work underlines this – keep disruption to a minimum and tell me what is happening and why – is the simple message. Reading is a good case study of how to do it – lots of information, lots of telling what is happening and why, and a very determined effort to keep the trains running. The next big challenge will be re-building London Bridge. A mammoth task that will put all these skills to the test.