Reading's Green Park Station to open at the end of May

The new railway station has been built near Reading FC's Madejski Stadium

A town's new £20m railway station will open by the end of the month after delays due to the Covid pandemic.

Reading's Green Park Station on the Reading to Basingstoke line will open to the public on 27 May.

The station will be served by a half-hourly service north to Reading and south to Basingstoke through the day.

It features a new station building, two platforms, two car parks as well as a bus interchange, a taxi rank and cycle parking facilities.

Work began in spring 2019 and the line was initially expected to open in late 2020.

The new station has been built by Reading Borough Council, Network Rail and Great Western Railway (GWR).

Councillor Tony Page, the cabinet member for transport, said the new station would be Reading's first brand new station since the opening of Reading West on 1 July 1906.

"The new multi-modal interchange will dramatically improve accessibility and connectivity to this important area of south Reading," he added.

Mr Page said the station would also provide another option for football fans heading to Reading FC's Madejski Stadium on match days.

Tom Pierpoint, the business development director at GWR, said the station in Reading was one of the three GWR stations to open this year along with Marsh Barton in Exeter and Portway Park and Ride in Bristol.

Work on the railway station began in Spring 2019