A KEY RAIL INTERCHANGE NOW ...

Reading’s mainline station is a major UK rail hub, handling some 16 million passengers a year. There are connections with London Paddington and London Waterloo to the east, Bristol and Wales to the west and directly to Birmingham (New Street & International), Guildford, Oxford, Basingstoke and Newbury.

An £850 million upgrade – the biggest in the UK – has provided new entrances and a concourse; 5 new platforms have been added with modified track layouts to improve passenger and freight transport flows.

... AND FOR THE FUTURE

When the line fully opens in 2019, Crossrail will run to Reading, serving a total of 40 stations along the entire route. Crossrail will significantly improve access and journey times into the West End, the City and Canary Wharf.

For the maximum benefit, you will be able to combine the First Great Western service to Paddington with the Crossrail service and achieve the following journey times:

Reading to Paddington – 26 mins

Reading to West End (Bond Street) – 30 mins

Reading to City (Liverpool Street) – 36 mins

Reading to Canary Wharf – 44 mins

There will be 24 Crossrail trains an hour from Paddington through Central London.

What’s more, London Heathrow will be less than half an hour from Reading when the new rail link (WRLtH) becomes operational.

ROAD

Reading has excellent road connections with 3 motorway junctions (J10, 11 & 12) of the M4, providing direct access to the M25 and the national motorway network. M4 J10 is served by the motorway A329M, and M4 J11 is reached by a modern dual carriageway, the A33.

bike

Reading is served by a 37 mile cycle network, of which 17 miles are segregated from general traffic. These will soon include a new Thames Bridge linking the north bank with the railway station.

Reading has launched Readybike – a London-style bike hire scheme with currently 29 docking stations throughout the urban area and a dedicated website: readybike.co.uk

AIR

Heathrow

London Heathrow is 28 miles east of Reading and can be reached directly via the M4 motorway (J4). RailAir operates a non-stop 45-minute bus service between the railway station and the airport.

Other international airports

London Gatwick is 60 miles south east of Reading and Southampton Airport Parkway is only 46 miles (direct rail 46 minutes).

Proposed direct rail link to Heathrow

The Department of Transport has announced plans to build a new rail link (WRLtH) from Reading to London Heathrow. The spur off the main Reading to London line could be operational by 2018 and will provide a 28 minute journey time to London Heathrow with 4 trains per hour. This will reinforce Reading as a location for international business and provide occupiers with a springboard into Central Europe and beyond.

FTSE100 Companies on your doorstep…

Outside London, the Thames Valley is the economic powerhouse of the British economy. It is home to 42,000 businesses, and includes the European and global headquarters of more than 200 Fortune 500 companies.

Reading is considered its capital and the commercial centre for the region. World leaders in finance, IT, global communications and a high concentration of FTSE100 companies have their headquarters in the area.

It has a highly skilled workforce of 1.7 million people, of whom 800,000 live within 25 minutes drive time.

The University of Reading is ranked in the top 1% of universities in the world and has around 17,000 students of more than 140 nationalities.

Highly skilled workforce

Reading has a strong and mature knowledge economy based on the local cluster of technology and creative sector industries. Technology industries include ICT, business & financial services, energy & renewables.

It has 1,400 businesses in the creative industries sector, including companies specialising in software, computer games, design, PR & marketing and IT development.

42% of the Reading workforce have been educated to degree level or higher – the fifth best rating in the UK, and has one of the best rates of retention of its university graduates in the UK.

The University of Reading has flagship course in film, theatre and television, graphic communication and architecture; biological sciences, food, pharmacy and cybernetics.