Plans for an additional Elizabeth line station in Berkshire

The Elizabeth line could gain an additional station near Twyford in Berkshire, if a large housing development next to the railway gets approval to be built. The station, and the housing development, could be known as Twyford Gardens, and is a development of around 2,500 new homes being planned by Berkeley Group to the east of the town, in an area that’s currently mostly fields.

Concept image (c) Berkeley Homes

The new train station, assuming it’s built, would sit to the south of the new housing estate and would be designed for both the Elizabeth line and GWR services, and would include an interchange for local buses.

Berkeley says that it has undertaken feasibility work with rail experts, SLC Rail and Systra to show that a four-platform station could be built next to a widened road bridge that already runs over the railway.

They also say that there’s a “positive business case” for the new station based on the increased population in the area using the station.

However, as residents in East London have learned recently, with the Beam Park station, it will be vital to secure an agreement from the Department for Transport before anything is built to ensure the station will get approval to open.

The other difficulty is that the new station, Twyford Gardens would be less than 2 minutes from the existing station at Twyford, which is not ideal for a rail service outside of a major town or city, and splits the fares revenue between two stations with two sets of running costs.

An alternative option, which has presumably been looked at and dismissed, would be to build a new station, but halfway between old and new station, as there is land available for both station and car park, if local roads can cope with the traffic. Even if possible, it would however also be a more expensive option, as the existing Twyford town centre station includes a junction for a rail spur up to Henley-on-Thames, so that track may need extending to the new station to avoid conflicting with other services.

The other difficulty facing the developer is that the land they want to build on is currently designated as London Metropolitan Green Belt, which makes it harder, but not impossible, to develop for housing. The area was also omitted from the Wokingham Borough’s recent local development plans, although there is an update being planned which could see that change.

Even if it’s approved, it’ll still be many years before a new station at Twyford Gardens opens.

Development area (c) Berkeley Homes