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Thursday 26 Sep 2024

Passengers are advised to plan ahead as engineering work takes place this Christmas

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Rail passengers are being asked to plan ahead this autumn and Christmas as Network Rail carries out engineering work on the Western route, which runs from Paddington to Penzance

Services to London Paddington

Preparatory work for new signalling and track equipment - necessary to deliver trains to HS2’s new Old Oak Common station near Paddington - means that no services will call at London Paddington between Friday 27 and Sunday 29 December inclusive.

Some services will instead be diverted to/from London Euston, with the majority of trains starting/stopping at Reading and Ealing Broadway. Passengers for London can change at Ealing Broadway and take a Transport for London service into the city, using either the District or Central lines.

Services to London Paddington will also be affected on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 November because of railway improvement work between Southall and Paddington. On both days, there will be no Elizabeth line services operating between Ealing Broadway and Stratford/Abbey Wood, and no Elizabeth line or Heathrow Express services operating to Heathrow Airport. On Sunday 17 November, only Elizabeth line services will run between Reading and Ealing Broadway; GWR will operate a limited number of trains from the west into London Euston, which will not stop at either Reading or Ealing Broadway.

Services through Westbury

From Friday 27 December to Thursday 23 January inclusive, the railway through Westbury, as well as between Westbury and Salisbury, Wiltshire, will be closed to enable track upgrades close to Westbury station and maintenance of the Sherrington viaduct. Trains will be diverted or replaced by buses.

Marcus Jones, Network Rail’s Western route director, said: “Our festive upgrades are crucial to ensuring the railway continues to run reliably and safely.

“Continued investment into upgrading and improving the railway is evidence of our commitment to providing a railway fit for the 21^st century.

“We appreciate there is never a good time to disrupt journeys but whenever possible we do this at times when fewer people are travelling, such as at Christmas, on bank holidays or at weekends.  

 “We thank passengers in advance for their patience and urge them to please check before they travel.”  

GWR Operations Director Richard Rowland said: “This is a really complex operation, and we have worked to make sure people get to where they want to.

“We will have an hourly service from the south-west of England – Cornwall, Devon – and an hourly service from South Wales which will go into Euston. 

“We will then have several trains which will terminate at Reading, and people can connect there, and we will also have a number of trains that go through to Ealing Broadway for the more local journeys. They will be able to connect there on to the London Underground and into London that way.

“One of the reasons we chose Euston was that it was a relatively quick journey in comparison to Paddington. It will just be 15 minutes extra. Euston is also already set up for intercity customers.

“We will be transporting a little bit of Great Western Railway to Euston to keep people moving. You will see a little bit of green there.”

Passengers are advised to check their journeys with their train operator or National Rail Enquiries before travelling and to plan well in advance. More information can be found at www.GWR.com/Christmas

HS2 is Britain’s new high speed, net zero carbon railway, with work well advanced on the new line from London to the West Midlands. For more information, visit the HS2 website.