Train Services

Mortimer Station, one mile from Beech Hill has regular services to Reading and Basingstoke. From Reading there are connections to London, Birmingham, South Wales and the West Country. Basingstoke has connections to London, the south coast and the West Country.

Trains to Reading run at half-hourly intervals Monday to Saturday at 19 and 49 minutes past each hour, with an hourly service at 19 minutes past each hour on a Sunday. The journey time is 11 minutes.

Trains to Basingstoke run at half-hourly intervals Monday to Saturday at  18 and 50 minutes past each our, with an hourly service at 48 minutes past each hour on a Sunday. The journey time is 13 minutes.

Departure times vary in the early morning and late evening. For a full timetable go to the First Great Western website and click on table number 6: Reading to Basingstoke 

Mortimer Station has a car park (pay and display), cycle racks and four cycle lockers. There is level access to platform 2 (reading-bound) when the booking office is closed (one small step otherwise). Access to Platform 1 (Basingstoke-bound) is via a footbridge. The ticket office is open during peak periods only. At other times tickets can be purchased on the train.

Mortimer Station is of particular historical interest in that is one of just a few stations designed and built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the civil engineer who built the Great Western Railway in the early nineteenth century. This was evidently at the insistance of the Duke of Wellington, who would permit the railway to be built on his land only if the station was built by Brunel.  Old pictures of the station can be seen in the waiting room at Mortimer Station. Evidence of the wider gauge of Brunel's railway can be seen by the wide spacing between the tracks at the station.

Over the next few years major redevelopment work is being carried out at Reading Station to add more platforms, improve access and reduce delays.  The line from Mortimer to Reading will be rebuilt to go under the main Reading - Newbury line. This will improve journey times and reduce delays. This particular stage of the redevelopment is expected to start in early 2015 when major disruption to travel can be expected, However, minor disruptions could occur while the other work at Reading station is carried out, so please check before you travel. For more information on the redevelopment of Reading Station go to the National Rail website.