Victorian

The Great Western Railway comes to Reading

Great Western Branches

Railway Accidents

Reading Station

The GWR in the twentieth century

The Southern Railways

By 1849 the GWR had a competitor in Reading, as the line to Sandhurst and Redhill was built by a different company and taken over by the South Eastern Railway in 1852. At first the railway ended in a temporary station opposite Forbury Gardens but this was replaced by a new station next to the GWR station in 1855. This had to be rebuilt after a fire caused by lightning in 1850. By 1856 the London South Western Railway had built a branch to connect to this railway at Wokingham. This meant that there were now three routes to London

Great Western Railway	Paddington	36 miles
London South Western Railway	Waterloo	43 miles
South Eastern Railway	Charing Cross	68 miles

The competition between the three railways led to fares being cut greatly. By 1858 the three companies had agreed to charge the same fares and split the money between them. They also agreed to make connections between the railways and a spur between the lines was opened in 1858 which went through the goods yard. A second junction between the railways was opened in 1894 at a better place and a third was opened in 1941. All but the last of these junctions has now been closed.