Talking of festivals – Network Rail (the replacement for Railtrack) are considering choosing the August Bank Holiday weekend to close the track between London Paddington and, yep, you guessed it, Reading – probably one of the busiest bits of rail track during the August Bank Holiday thanks to the Reading Festival.
Offering a bit of common sense PC Bob Maulini of British Transport Police said the works could pose serious safety concerns. "August Bank Holiday is traditionally the busiest day of the year for us. If the line is closed it could cause some serious crowd control problems. I don't mean in terms of people's behaviour but just the sheer numbers - they are normally queuing round to Caversham Road and this will make things worse."
John Howarth, head of transport at Reading Borough Council, has told reporters he is already in discussion with the rail operator. "The Bank Holiday weekend closure is not our preferred option and I have already made this point to senior managers at board level at the rail company concerned."
Reading Festival producers Mean Fiddler have said they will advise festival-goers on travel arrangements as soon as Network Rail make a firm decision. MD Melvin Benn told reporters: "The Mean Fiddler, Thames Valley Police and Reading Borough Council will be making representations to Network Rail later this week. If the worse comes to the worse there is an excellent alternative train service from Waterloo to Reading."
Network Rail's predecessor Railtrack have a long history of putting major rail works on the London Edinburgh line on the same weekend – the incredibly busy climax of the Edinburgh Festival!