Additional trains to take Reading Festival goers home

First Great Western is to run three additional trains to take Reading Festival goers home when the music stops on Sunday night [August 25].

Reading Festival ticket holders are being advised to allow plenty of time for their journey and a queuing system will be in place to help passengers board trains in safety.

Two additional early morning trains will take passengers to London Paddington and leave Reading at 01.37 (non-stop) and 03.10 (calling at Slough and Ealing Broadway). 

A third service will run from Reading to Redhill at 05.04 (calling at: Wokingham, Blackwater, North Camp, Guildford, Dorking and Reigate). 

Advice for travellers going to Reading Festival:

• Leave Reading Station by the South exit, where you can catch a shuttle bus, a taxi, or walk to the festival site via Vastern and then Caversham Roads
• Should you wish to take a shuttle bus a queuing system will be in operation
• Please use the pedestrian crossings as advertised

And when heading home:

• Walk down Richfield Avenue, Caversham Road, then take Vastern Road (the road to the left of TGI Fridays) to the station North entrance
• Shuttle buses take you from Caversham Road to the North entrance
• The old route via Station Hill has been closed
• Please use signage to get to the North entrance where you will be able to enter and catch your train
• All taxis and private hire vehicles have been informed to drop off at the North entrance
• With planned Network Rail engineering work due to take place until midday on the Bank Holiday Monday a replacement bus service will operate on certain routes.

Monday travel advice:

• Train services to Reading West, Newbury, Basingstoke and Southampton are affected by maintenance works on Monday morning
• Until normal services resume at midday, a rail replacement bus service will collect affected passengers from Reading station and take them to Reading West station festival-goers should join the queuing system which is in place at Reading station and they will be directed to the correct part of the station to board the rail replacement bus service
• Reading Festival goers should allow at least two hours from the festival venue to get their train if they have booked a ticket on a specific service. If they miss their booked train due to arriving too late they may have to purchase a further ticket to board a different service