Media centre

Monday 19 Dec 2016

Passengers urged to plan ahead as biggest ever Christmas upgrade work starts this weekend

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

• Network Rail will be investing £103m in improving and upgrading the rail network over Christmas

• Passengers advised to plan ahead as upgrade work means there will be no train services from Paddington main line station between December 24 and 29.

Passengers travelling into and out of west London are being urged to plan ahead as vital upgrade work means there will be no train services into or out of London Paddington main line station from December 24 to 29.

Network Rail’s orange army will be out in force over the Christmas period to carry out upgrade work which is necessary as part of the Crossrail project that will allow for quicker and more direct travel across the capital as well as increase capacity. Work will take place between Old Oak Common, Stockley, Hayes, Acton and Maidenhead.

The project is one of up to 200 being delivered across the network as £103million is being invested into the railway, making it the biggest ever festive upgrade.

The upgrade means there will be no train services in or out of Paddington main line station from December 24 to 29, with a reduced timetable between December 30 and January 2. Passengers arriving from the west will see services start and end at Ealing Broadway during the closure although retail units at the station will remain open and London Underground and other Transport for London services will still run.

As there is no step-free access at Ealing, GWR tickets will also be valid via the following London stations:

• Euston: To and from the Hereford area (change at Birmingham New Street)
• Marylebone: To and from the Oxford area (change at Oxford)
• Waterloo: To and from Bristol, South Wales, the South West and Basingstoke (change at Reading)

Matthew Steele, Crossrail programme director at Network Rail said:    “Successful completion of these Christmas works is not only vital to delivering the Crossrail project, but is an integral part of our Railway Upgrade Plan as we continue to enhance the capacity and reliability of our railway, and enable the introduction of new trains in 2017 that have more seats and offers quieter, more reliable journeys.

“Despite our essential upgrades the vast majority of the rail network, over 95%, remains unaffected and will be open for business as usual.”

GWR managing director, Mark Hopwood, said: “These improvement works will ultimately increase capacity and connectivity in London and the Thames Valley, and on the wider Great Western network. New trains are already in operation on some GWR routes and more are on their way during the course of 2017 and 2018 – delivering more seats and more frequent services.

“We have worked closely with our colleagues at Network Rail to keep disruption to a minimum; however, we urge customer to travel early and to note that we will not be able to run trains between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway for four days from and including Christmas Eve. We strongly advise customers with luggage, children or who require assisted travel, to use either London Marylebone, Euston or Waterloo.”

A breakdown of how journeys may be affected can be found by visiting nationalrail.co.uk/Christmas and following #ChristmasWorks on Twitter.

• ENDS   -

More information about services out of London Paddington Station:

 

Major upgrades to the rail network services in 2017 means there will be no services between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway, from Christmas Eve to Thursday 29 December. Trains will start and end at Ealing Broadway where you can change on to the London Underground. As there is no step-free access, GWR tickets will also be valid via the following London stations:

• Euston: to and from the Hereford area (change at Birmingham New Street) 
• Marylebone: to and from the Oxford area (change at Oxford)
• Waterloo: to and from Bristol, South Wales, the South West and Basingstoke (change at Reading)

A reduced timetable will also operate between 30th December and 2nd January.