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Traffic and Travel

Wokingham Borough Connect

Planes, trains and automobiles - strike information

Strikes are continuing throughout December and the beginning of January on transport networks across the UK.

Trains

Trains will not be operating, or have very restricted timetables, on strike days and the impact will be felt on day's following the strikes as some trains won't be in the right place for the days service.

South Western Railway have published the following information:

• Tuesday 13, Wednesday 14, Friday 16 and Saturday 17 December - strike action with a reduced timetable.
• Thursday 15 and Sunday 18 December - due to the knock on effect of strike days, first trains will be much later than usual and be very busy so avoid these first trains if you can. 
• Sunday 18 December to Monday 2 January - overtime ban likely to have a significant impact on service levels.
• Saturday 24 to Tuesday 27 December - strike action (no service was due to run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day).
• Tuesday 3 January to Wednesday 4 January - strike action with a reduced timetable.
• Thursday 5 January - due to the knock on effect of strike days, first trains will be much later than usual and be very busy so avoid these first trains if you can.
• Friday 6 and Saturday 7 January - strike action with a reduced timetable.
• Sunday 8 January - due to the knock on effect of strike days, first trains will be much later than usual and be very busy so avoid these first trains if you can.

People are being urged not to travel during strike periods and to check the website before travelling for up to date information.

Air travel

The strikes will take place from Friday 23 December to Saturday 31 December at the following airports:

• Birmingham Airport
• Cardiff Airport
• Gatwick Airport
• Glasgow Airport
• Heathrow Airport - Terminals 2,3,4 and 5
• Manchester Airport
• Port of Newhaven

The government have published information about what to expect and what they are doing to keep passengers moving.

National Highways

The Public and Commercial Services Union has announced a rolling programme of strikes for National Highways, mainly involving traffic officers and control room staff. 

Locally, the London and South East strikes will take place between Thursday 22 and Sunday 25 December, as well as joining the full service strike on Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 January.

For those travelling further afield, check The Public and Commercial Services Union for dates.

Next steps for proposed parking fee increase

We are now taking the next steps to increase car parking fees, after it has been agreed by the council's executive and examined by its overview and scrutiny management committee, which found no reason to pass it back for further discussion.

We have now drawn up a draft traffic regulation order which allows us to change the current arrangements, and we will publish a notice of the proposed increases.

Why are we doing this

• We need to offset an expected shortfall from parking charges to keep up highway maintenance.
• The expected deficit has been caused partly by increased home working after the covid-19 pandemic and we don't expect this to change soon.
• The proposals will allow us to maintain roads and pavements and other routes while continuing to fund services used by more vulnerable residents.
• Unlike many other local authorities, we haven't increased off-street parking charges since April 2018 and they have remained among the lowest in the local area and regionally.

Fake news

We are not doing this to prop up park and ride costs, as recently circulated on social media. The Mereoak and Winnersh Triangle Park and Ride services are not running at a loss of £600,000 this year and we are not making these car parking charge increases to cover that non-existent £600K loss.

Both Park and Rides are under an agreement with Reading Borough Council where we equally share any profits or losses to the two sites. In the past, we would both make a small profit from these. We did lose some money from them during Covid, but that was less than £40,000 shared evenly between both councils. This year, we expect to break even.

More information

For more information on the changes, including how to respond to the draft traffic regulation, you can read our recent article online.

Changes to Leopard Bus 3 route

A new year brings a new route for Reading Buses' Leopard 3, which will be taking advantage of the new section of the Nine Mile Ride Extension which opened at Arborfield last month.

From Monday 2 January, the route, which previously went along Biggs Lane and Park Lane, will now use the Nine Mile Ride Extension, Sheerlands Avenue and Princess Marina Drive.

Two new bus stops will be added at Harvest Path, just south of Bohunt School and Hogwood Lane and Marino Way, south of Hogwood industrial estate.

The new route will provide a better route for pupils travelling to and from Bohunt School. You can see a map of the revised route and new timetable at My Journey Wokingham.

Baby it's cold outside, so buckle up safely

It is the law in the UK that all children travelling in a car, van or goods vehicle must use the correct child car seat until they are either 135cm tall or 12 years old (whichever they reach first).

With the temperature dropping, many children and babies are being snugly wrapped up in thick jackets and body suits, which could affect how safe they are in a car seat.

Car seats are designed to hold a child or baby firmly in place, both for normal driving conditions and in case of a collision. Thick jackets and body suits stop the harness from being close enough to their body, meaning they are too loose and reduces safety of the seat considerably in the case of a collision.

Thick jackets and snow suits should be removed before strapping the child or baby in and blankets used over the top of the harness to keep them snuggly and warm.

You can find out more, including more general inforrmation about the usage of car seats, from RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents).

Upcoming roadworks

Keeping up to date

• For planned and emergency roadworks, follow our Twitter and Facebook pages 
• To find out about roadworks near you, visit One.network
• For active and sustainable travel, including events, training and resources, visit MyJourney Wokingham 
• Visit our major new roads page for plans and updates
• For information on re-surfacing and reactive carriageway repairs visit our pothole and road repairs page 
• You can report any issues with roads and streets online, including street lights, problems with traffic lights, potholes, damaged street furniture, problems with road markings and removal of dead animals. 
• On our parking and permits page, you can find information including car parks and costs around the borough, resident parking permits, park and ride services and appealing a parking fine.
• Our transport and travel page includes information on applying for a senior citizen or disabled person's bus and train pass and local public transport information.
• The blue parking badges page has information on applying for, using, replacing and returning your blue badge.