Reading railway station's northern entrance opens

Councillor Tony Page (left) and James Freeman from Reading Buses said the new entrance will help travellers

A new transport hub intended to cut bus journey times to Reading train station has been opened as part of an ongoing redevelopment.

The northern entrance has been transformed to include new bus stops, a taxi rank and pedestrian access.

Bus passengers coming from the north of the town can stop at the new hub rather than the station's south entrance.

The £895m redevelopment, which includes new signalling and platforms, is set to finish in 2015.

Tony Page, Reading council's transport member, said: "This side of the station was previously quite dingy and dismal.

'Little inconvenience'

"Getting in from the north beforehand was quite an unpleasant experience.

"The environment has been completely transformed and this will compliment the work inside the station with an area providing good transport links."

The council estimates a third of passengers using the station will use the new northern entrance.

James Freeman, from Reading Buses, said: "We believe it will save passengers around five to six minutes on their journeys getting into the railway station.

"There's little inconvenience too as all the routes will still serve their previous stops."