Reading train station

Reading is a major interchange: 192 stations can be reached from here without changing on a weekday, more than almost anywhere else on the network. The most frequent is London Paddington, with 497 trains a day.

See Reading on the map

• 192 direct destinations
• 33rd busiest in Britain
• Staffed full time
• Step-free throughout
• 1,387 parking spaces
• 20 bus stops nearby

Direct trains from Reading

Trains a day to each station you can reach without changing, by day of the week.

and 152 more stations, each served less often.

See these routes on the map

Lines serving Reading

Reading is on the Great Western Main Line and the North Downs Line, each of which has its own page with the whole route, every station on it and how busy each one is.

Freight through Reading station, hour by hour

Freight is booked through or alongside Reading station on 677 paths in the week beginning 21 September 2026: 129 paths on the Wednesday, 60 paths on the Saturday and 2 paths on the Sunday. 90 of them run whatever the traffic; the rest are held in the timetable and used only when there is something to move. The busiest hour is 01:00 to 02:00 on the Tuesday, with 13 paths booked.

The grid counts the goods trains booked to pass in each hour of the week beginning 21 September 2026: the darker the hour, the more paths, and a dot marks an hour with at least one path that runs regardless. Engineering trains, empty stock and light engines are not counted. Across Britain only about a fifth of booked freight paths run on a given day, so a booked path is a possibility rather than a promise; the freight statistics page explains how that is measured.

Paths booked in the hournone12 to 34 to 78 to 1516 or moreone runs regardless

How busy Reading station is

14,324,664 passenger entries and exits in 2024-25, making it the 33rd busiest station in Great Britain.

A further 4,057,839 passengers changed trains here without entering or leaving the station.

More journeys run between Reading and London Paddington than any other pair: 4,438,238 a year. That is where passengers go, which is not always where the most trains go.

Source: Office of Rail and Road, Estimates of station usage, 2024-25. Estimated from ticket sales.

Changing from 24 March 2027

From 24 March 2027, Reading gains 12 destinations including Dunbar, Alnmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Wargrave, Motherwell, Shiplake.

Nearest other stations

• Reading West 0.9 miles
• Reading Green Park 2.6 miles
• Tilehurst 2.6 miles
• Earley 2.7 miles
• Winnersh Triangle 3.8 miles

Closed stations nearby

Former stations within 8 km of Reading, from Wikidata. They are on the map under Closed & former stations.

• Coley branch line · 0.6 miles

Show closed stations on the map

Facilities at Reading station

Reading is staffed full time, with step-free access to the whole station.

Ticket office: Monday to Friday: 06:15 to 22:00 · Saturday: 06:15 to 22:00 · Sunday: 07:15 to 22:00

Toilets · WiFi

Parking at Reading station

• Station Car Park
• Multi Storey Car Park 1,387 spaces, 14 accessible
  £23.70 a day, £118.50 a week

Cycle parking: 344 spaces (sheltered, stands).

From National Rail's station record, last updated 5 September 2026.

Getting to Reading station

Reading station is in Reading, South East, and is run by Network Rail.

The nearest motorway junction is M4 J11 (Three Mile Cross), 3.1 miles south.

20 bus stops are within a short walk, the nearest being Station North Interchange.

Sources: Office of Rail and Road (Table 6329), OpenStreetMap and NaPTAN.

Reading station elsewhere

• National Rail facilities, opening hours and live departures
• Realtime Trains every train calling today, to the minute
• Wikipedia the station's history
• OpenStreetMap the map data this page is built from