Great Western Railway has warned that a number of factors including severe flooding have led to severely disrupted timetables.
The rail company issued a similar warning in December, in particular due to delays over the festive period, but this warning has now been extended due to a number of factors.
While rail services in December were heavily affected by railway worker strikes, engineering work, and the increased capacity of passengers looking to travel in time for the holidays, Great Western Railway's services are now also affected by extreme weather conditions.
Many services have been suspended, delayed, or otherwise altered due to flooding, which is affecting access to a number of rail routes across the country.
This is not specifically a Great Western Railway problem – Rail Network Scotland issued a similar service warning relating to rainfall last month – but stations served by Great Western Railway trains have been made inaccessible in recent days due to intense flooding.
Didcot station has flooded to the point that some services have been unable to stop at the station entirely. This is having a knock-on effect for surrounding areas. While stations between London Paddington and Oxford and the Cotswolds have not seen as much flooding, these routes are running at a reduced service due to flooding in other areas.
As such, passengers are advised to travel early regardless of the flooding in their local areas.
Localised flooding has meant that the line is entirely closed between Reading and Taunton, and between Swindon and Bristol Parkway.
Flooding has also blocked direct services westward from London Paddington to South Wales, Devon, and Cornwall.
Meanwhile, a single train per hour service is in operation between London Paddington and Weston-Super-Mare (via Bristol Temple Meads), Swansea (via Bristol Temple Meads), Plymouth, and Penzance.
Because of the reduced service, these trains are all expected to be far busier than usual, and passengers should anticipate delays to their journey.
What's more, a serious incident at Reading station on 4 January, which is believed to be unrelated to flooding, has left trains and crew without adequate time to prepare for the morning commuter rush, and as such, many train services to and from the station have been affected.
In an effort to mitigate some of the challenges caused by these delays, Great Western Railway has announced that all tickets valid for Thursday 4 and Friday 5 January will be valid up until Saturday 6 January. This, it is hoped, will give passengers a greater degree of flexibility as they plan their journeys.
What's more, passengers who decide not to travel are able to apply for a full refund, and those who wish to amend their ticket to travel on another day are also able to do so via the Great Western Railway website.
A spokesperson for Great Western Railway said:
“We're really sorry for the disruption customers are experiencing, especially those caught up yesterday evening after a person was sadly hit by a train near Reading.
“Police dealing with the incident took control of the line, which meant we couldn't run trains through the affected area until it was handed back earlier this morning. This is unfortunately having a significant impact today.”
