Network Rail has issued information about train services across the West of England over Christmas.

Trains will run as normal on most passenger services, but some will be disrupted due to repair and improvement works.

Network Rail arranges for work to be carried out during the Christmas and New Year period, as passenger numbers are typically much lower during this time.

It is assuring passengers that although there will be some disruption in the West of England due to engineering work, the impact will be less than in previous years.

Between Saturday 27 December and Sunday 4 January, Network Rail will be working on renewing track, which will disrupt some train services to and from London Paddington. Only two of the four tracks will be available for train services to use, so an amended timetable will apply.

As a consequence of this, Network Rail expects that some trains will be busier than normal.

There will be no direct services running between London Paddington and Cheltenham Spa, so passengers will need to change at Swindon or Bristol Parkway.

As usual, there will be no train services operating on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

Online journey planners are now up to date and contain information about train services during the Christmas and New Year period, which will help passengers find out service information and plan their journeys. Passengers can buy advance tickets from GWR’s website.

Network Rail is also continuing with work to construct HS2’s Old Oak Common station in west London. This work will focus particularly on installing overhead equipment which delivers electrical power to trains.

“Far fewer people travel by rail between Christmas and New Year compared to a normal working week, which gives us a valuable opportunity to deliver major upgrades for passengers whilst causing as little disruption as possible.

“Trains will continue to run across the vast majority of the Western route over the festive period but some services will be affected by our engineering work, so please make sure to plan ahead through National Rail Enquiries or with your train operator.”

Marcus Jones, Network Rail’s Western route managing director