Reading–Basingstoke line Reading–Basingstoke line The Reading–Basingstoke line is a short railway link between the South Western Main Line and the Great Western Main Line, constructed by the Great Western Railway between 1846 and 1848. The line is served by Great Western Railway local services between Reading and Basingstoke, which stop at the intermediate stations Reading West, Mortimer and Bramley. The line is also an important through route for longer distance passenger and freight services: CrossCountry services from Bournemouth and Southampton to Birmingham and the North of England and freight trains between Southampton Docks and the Midlands use the line. The section of
Reading, Pennsylvania Railway serves Reading along the Harrisburg Line, which runs east to Philadelphia and west to Harrisburg, and the Reading Line, which runs northeast to Allentown. Norfolk Southern Railway operates the Reading Yard in Reading. The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad operates the Reading Division line from an interchange with the Norfolk Southern Railway in Reading north to Port Clinton and Packerton. The East Penn Railroad operates the Lancaster Northern line from Sinking Spring southwest to Ephrata, using trackage rights along Norfolk Southern Railway east from Sinking Spring to an interchange with the Norfolk Southern Railway in Reading. Passenger trains