Get Reading article

"Changes to parking restrictions on various roads in Twyford could be brought in. The proposal comes after two-thirds of people living in the area reported problems on their streets... The three top issues named were commuter parking, which equalled nearly a quarter of the concerns raised (24 per cent) and is only set to get worse now Elizabeth Line trains run directly into central London, followed by inconsiderate parking (17 per cent) and parking too close to junctions (14 per cent)."

Hmm. I wonder if the problem has got worse compared with pre-Pandemic? Despite all the much-publicised expectations about Crossrail, is it really encouraging Twyfordians to venture into Central London?

 
Car parks in general at stations seem to be a lot busier lately.  Twyford could do with a multi deck car park as it always looks full. 

I miss Stuving’s Wokingham updates! 

 

I would suspect that Twyfordians are not the issue with people parking in the street in Twyford.

There are a lot of people who live a car-based life living to the west of London in communities with little or very limited rail service who never use their local trains, but on occasions visit London and would never dream of taking their car all the way in.   

There have been a number of park-and-ride favourite in the past - ranging from Osterley to Bedwyn but local stations on the Reading to Paddington route wouldn't have made a "top ten" list.   Price of parking, frequency of service, cost of tickets,ease of access of the trunk road network, and directness of service into central London are all factors.

Twyford now has (I think) a sevice every 15 minutes or so DIRECT to the West End (Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road) and the City (Farringdon and Liverpool Street) as well as further east.   Very attractive; the whole yucky business of standing around in Paddington waiting for the next service on a night likeliest night is gone.   So I suspect the uptake at these stations has been not a consequence of covid in any way, but rather the sponge effect of the Elizabeth line doing - err - exactly what was intended!

 
There have been problems with parking near Twyford station since at least the 1980s.  Many of the streets near the station are filled with terraced houses with no off street parking.  Some of them are only wide enough if cars are parked half on the pavement.   The prices of the houses rocketed as services to London improved before the turn of the century but many kept their cars even though they left them outside their homes all day while catching the train.

 
Its not a new problem. Since I've lived there there's been numerous consultations and a gradual push outwards of the restrictions.

When I first moved there the restrictions were a couple of streets away and when I left last year they were one street away with the suggestion that they would be extended again. I was about 15 mins walk from the station. Most of my neighbours didn't want restrictions as it causes problems for them and visitors but equally it gets annoying having someone park across your drive. The most popular suggestion seemed to be no parking at set times as permits just get messy.

All feels a bit academic as there was only parking enforcement on certain days and everyone seemed to know which ones it was

 
No parking between say 12 & 1 usually achieves it

 
They are comparable parking restrictions close to Tilehurst Station that were gradually extended as motorists became more and more willing to walk further from their cars to save parking charges.  In the 1990s cars were parked either side of Carlisle Road and on Oxford Road itself. One of my neighbours, then in his early 30s, couldn't be bothered to walk the nine minutes down to the station, parked his car on the road and got it shunted by a vehicle pursued by the police. Houseowners painted their own yellow lines,which the Council quickly removed.

Parking in Carlisle Road is now banned until 1500 on weekdays and there are varying one-hour restrictions in the middle of the day in Oak Tree Road, where commuter parking was proving a real nuisance.

 

Also at Didcot.

OTC

 
Similar 1 hour restrictions in Goring (for Goring and Streatley), although curiously, they're set for the morning one side of the station and afternoon in roads the other side.

Given the extremely unlikely visit by a traffic warden, this means that there's a 50% chance of not getting a ticket, unless they visit twice in the day or waste several hours admiring the River Thames, or watching passing trains.

 
I can't recall the last time I saw a traffic warden. Probably in London, before Lockdown. Have they ditched their traditional uniforms with peaked hat for something more 21st century and less conspicuous?  Though now and then the local news websites do publish a league table of Reading roads where tickets have been issued.

 
After what seems years the double yellow lines discussed in the consultation have finally been painted.

As expected all its done it is push the problem further out. The local Facebook page is full of pictures of creative and often dangerous parking in new locations most a couple of hundred yards from the previous problems. The timings of when people park - before 8am generally - would suggest that this is commuter traffic and there are lot of posts complaining about GWR/TFL for ignoring the traffic problem. My old street is apparently now a favoured spot which considering the primary school which was already there makes me glad I moved.

Speaking to one of my former neighbours they were delighted as they no longer have people blocking their drive or they were until people started parking on the pavement apparently believing this got round the yellow lines.

 
Surely Twyford must now be a strong contender for another of those "flat pack" multi-storey car parks like the ones at Wokingham and Didcot?

 

ISTR that permission was sought from Wokingham Borough Council but refused.

 
Update from, Stephen Conway, the local councillor who really restored my faith in local government when I lived inTwyford. Somewhat different here in West Wales.

"One matter that affects all three parishes, and beyond, is Twyford station. As I’ve reported before, Lindsay Ferris and I had several meetings with GWR managers about a wide range of station-related issues before the recent local elections (when Lindsay stood down). 
   I have another meeting later today to see how funding bids are progressing. We are looking at increasing the security of cycle parking at the station, access improvements for pedestrians and cyclists, better coordination of bus and rail services, implementation of an existing planning permission to extend the car park by about fifty spaces, security in the car park, and better cycle routes to the station, especially from Charvil. "

 
GWR have confirmed they're using the existing planning permission to add 50 spaces. No dates or timeline but be interesting to see if that makes a difference or people just prefer free parking and a walk.

 
A petition has been opened by somebody called David Sleight to support additional parking at Twyford:

https://www.change.org/p/support-additional-parking-at-twyford-station

 
This doesn't affect me at all, personally, but I do support their intention and agenda.

 

It should in theory be a reasonably easy place to add more parking as the current park is large enough to support a second or third deck with very minimal intrution to the views of neighbouring properties, the nearest ones being the other side of the Henley branch line.

Whether there are other silly little things that might make it more complicated, who knows!

 

Newts, just for example. 

 

Yes.  Or more niche ones like gaining approval to increase the footfall of the unusual and outdated method of getting from the car park to the station by crossing the track.

 

Mind you, that crossing isn't quite as scary as the National Rail plan would have you believe. Spot the deliberate error!

 


Here is the crossing in question.

The track to the left is the connection to the Up Relief for stock to get on and off the Henley branch.  The one on the right leads to the bay platform and is used by trains more often.

 
A bridge from the first floor of the extended car park?

 
One of the reasons in the past for not putting in a bigger or double decker carpark (apart from cost) is apparently it would need to take some land from the allotments which are next to it. That creates a whole set of different problems and a different group of people who will get very upset.

I'm also not sure extra buses or a park and ride are the answer as much of the traffic is quite early/late - before 8am or after 7Pm and even at every 30 mins I just can't see people wanting to wait especially as the Elisabeth line has drawn in commuters from quite a wide catchment area.

The car park seems the best solution although access to the station is through some quite narrow and crowded roads on one side at least and not sure there's capacity for more cars.

It's possibly that old adage "you wouldn't build it here" if you were starting anew.

 

The parking problem may add to the case for a new station at Ruscombe, on the eastern edge of Twyford.

https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=25693.msg316659#msg316659

In which Grahame suggested "Or perhaps with reduced commuting - people in the office just 2 to 4 days a week - not so much 'width' of service will be needed". 

After several years of Working from Home being fashionable, the trend now seems to have turned, with most employers wanting their staff back in the office most of the time.

 

I would suggest - four years on from the slightly frivolous comment - that you have two forces. Yes, you still have an element of reduction from 5 days in the office though far less now, and you also have the success of the Elizabeth line in brining so much more economic and travel positives to the Thames Valley, as discussed in other threads.

I - risk - speculating again.  Extend the Maidenhead Crossrail terminators to Henley perhaps - goodness knows what that would do with the parking.

:12 and :42 from Maidenhead
:22 and :52 at Twyford
:34 and :04 at Henley

:39 and :09 at Henley
:51 and :21 at Twyford
:00 and :30 into Maidenhead

Cuts down the layover times and turn back times - I think that replaces the diesel train on the branch with an electric train but no extra diagrams? Couple of minutes of slack in there too.  It does mean 4 trains an hour over what is now an occasional foot crossing to the car park at Twyford, but then in makes Shiplake and Wargrave into potential car parking targets with half hourly though trains to central London.

Up the service to Maidenhead from London from 4 to 6 per hour and you could extend the other two services similarly to Bourne End / for Marlow - re-engineer Bourne End in a New Holland sort of way?

 

Having just started to look at getting back in the job market most companies now seem to offering flexible working with the expectation you're in the office 3 days a week. A couple offer remote working but they've been for fairly niche or geographically diverse roles that I suspect would have offered something similar pre-covid.