Major disruption between Reading / Heathrow Airport and London Paddington expected until 10:30 

Route(s) affected

Elizabeth line between Reading / Maidenhead / Heathrow Terminal 4 and Abbey Wood and also between Heathrow Terminal 5 and Shenfield

Great Western Railway between Penzance / Plymouth / Carmarthen / Swansea / Cardiff Central / Great Malvern / Weston-super-Mare / Bristol Temple Meads / Cheltenham Spa / Newbury / Worcester Shrub Hill / Oxford / Didcot Parkway and London Paddington

Heathrow Express between Heathrow Terminal 5 and London Paddington

Description

Emergency services are dealing with an incident between Reading / Heathrow Express and London Paddington. Whilst they respond to this incident, some lines are closed. As a result, trains between these stations may be cancelled, revised or delayed by up to 60 minutes until approximately 10:30.

There are a number of different options available to help you complete your journey. Please check your whole journey using the National Rail real-time Journey Planner as some of the alternative routes listed below that you can use your ticket on may also be affected by this disruption.

A visual disruption map video is available.

Elizabeth line customer advice:

You can use your ticket at no extra cost on the following alternative train and underground services:

• Chiltern Railways between High Wycombe and London Marylebone

• Docklands Light Railway via any reasonable route

• Great Western Railway services between Reading and London Paddington

• Heathrow Express between Heathrow Terminals and London Paddington (pre-paid tickets only)

• London Underground services via any reasonable route

• Southeastern services between London Terminals and Abbey Wood

• South Western Railway services between Reading and London Waterloo

• Thameslink services between Farringdon and Abbey Wood

Bus options:

Whilst this disruption is ongoing, buses are a simple and direct alternative. You can use your ticket at no extra cost on the below bus operators:

• London Buses:

  • between Paddington and Heathrow Terminals / West Drayton

  • Abbey Wood and Paddington

Bus options - West London

Alternative London Bus routes during disruption:

You should allow extra time to complete your journey as the bus journey will be slower than the train. You may need to change buses or travel via a major interchange. Check live information before you travel as routes, stops and road conditions and congestion can change at short notice.

West London

(Paddington / Heathrow and Reading)

A key tip is to travel towards Ealing Broadway or Hayes and Harlington for further connections. Key routes include:

• Ealing Broadway

  • 207 or SL8 towards West Ealing / Hanwell / Southall

  • SL8 towards Acton & 266 to Acton Main Line

• Southall

  • SL8 towards Ealing Broadway

  • 105 towards Heathrow Terminals or 195 towards Hayes and Harlington

• Hayes and Harlington

  • SL9 & 278 towards Heathrow Central & 350 towards Heathrow Terminal 5

  • 195 towards Southall

• Heathrow Terminals

  • 105 (from Terminals 2/3) or 482 (Terminals 4/5) to Southall

  • SL9 (from Terminals 2/3) or 350 (Terminals 5) to Hayes and Harlington and West Drayton

• West Drayton area

  • 222/U1 to Uxbridge for Underground connections

  • 350 to Hayes and Harlington and Heathrow Terminal 5

• Slough area

  • 81 to Hounslow for Underground connections

  • 702 (non-TfL bus) towards Hammersmith and Victoria (last bus 2200)

  • Carousel Buses Route 103: Slough - Langley (Harrow Market) Operates until 19:00

  • First Bus Route 7: Slough - Langley (Harrow Market) - Heathrow T5. Operates until 23:30 Mon - Sun

  • First Bus Route 3: Slough - Langley - Uxbridge. Operates until 23:00 Mon - Sat & until 18:40 Sun

Note on Langley (Harrow Market) - The Langley "Harrow Market" bus stop is a short walk away from the station bus stop, close to the town centre, and more likely to be used by customers than the station bus stop.

Great Western Railway customer advice:

Your journey is likely to be delayed and could take up to 90 minutes longer to complete. Some trains will be revised, only completing parts of their normal journeys, and there will also be some cancellations. To avoid trains being stopped for a long time outside of a station, some of the longer distance trains may be held in station platforms some distance away from the affected area.

If your train is cancelled, you may travel on either of the two services before, or two services after, your original train. If these are peak services or less flexible, you can still travel with your original ticket, at no extra cost.

Your ticket can be used, at no extra cost, with the following operators, in both directions on these routes:

• Avanti West Coast between Birmingham New Street and London Euston

• Chiltern Railways between Banbury / Oxford and London Marylebone

• CrossCountry between Basingstoke / Reading / Oxford / Banbury / Bristol Temple Meads / Bristol Parkway / Cheltenham Spa / Worcestershire Parkway and Birmingham New Street

• London Northwestern Railway between Birmingham New Street and London Euston

• London Underground between London Waterloo / London Marylebone and London Paddington

• South Western Railway:

  • between Reading and London Waterloo

  • between Basingstoke and London Waterloo

  • between Windsor & Eton Riverside and London Waterloo

• West Midlands Railway between Hereford and Birmingham New Street

Ticket flexibility:

If your train is cancelled, you will be able to travel on an alternative service operated by any other participating train company, either two hours before or two hours after the original departure time of the cancelled service, in order to reach your destination.

If you decide not to travel or cannot complete your journey due to cancellations, you are entitled to a full refund from your original point of sale.

For further information and guidance please contact your train company or speak to a member of railway staff.

Check before you travel:

You can check your journey using the National Rail real-time Journey Planner.

Compensation:

You may be entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey today. Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.