For the next two Sundays, services out of London Paddington and between Didcot and Swindon will be severely disrupted because of planned engineering work.

In the Paddington area, no trains will run between London Paddington and Reading before 0920. After 0920, only half the tracks will be available, which must be shared between Great Western Railway, Elizabeth Line, and Heathrow Express trains.

That will lead to a significant reduction in train services, with an amended timetable in place for services between London and Bristol Temple Meads, and South Wales.

Before 0920

• Before 0920, services will start from or terminate at Reading. Customers can catch Elizabeth line services to Ealing Broadway for onward travel via the London Underground network.

After 0920

• After 0920, trains will resume between London Paddington and Reading, but with only two out of four tracks available, services will be reduced.
• There will only be one train an hour to Bristol and South Wales. These will operate via a diversionary route to Bath, before continuing to Bristol Temple Meads, Bristol Parkway and South Wales.
• A shuttle service will operate between London Paddington, Reading, and Didcot Parkway.
• A rail-replacement bus service will operate between Didcot Parkway and Swindon; Reading and Swindon; and Bath Spa and Swindon.
• It will not be possible to provide a rail-replacement bus service between Swindon and Bristol Parkway because the M4 motorway will be closed between Bath and Bristol.

Track renewal works will again affect services on Saturday, the 29th and Sunday, the 30th of March. There will again be a very limited service between London Paddington and Bristol/South Wales, but the M4 motorway will be open and a rail-replacement bus service will operate between Swindon and Bristol Parkway.

Services between Lond and Bristol have been disrupted several times in recent months, including last autumn, when there were no services between Bath and Bristol for five days, and at Christmas when Paddington was completely closed, with some trains being diverted to London Euston.

“We’re sorry for the impact this work will have on journeys between London and Bristol and South Wales. We advise customers to change plans if possible and only travel on Sunday if absolutely necessary. This works means that we are only able to run very few trains on this route and those that will run will be really busy.”

GWR Operations Director Richard Rowland