Disruption between Westbury and Bath Spa / Chippenham / Reading expected until 18:00 

Route(s) affected

Between Plymouth / Penzance / Paignton / Swansea / Carmarthen / Taunton / Weston-super-Mare / Exeter St Davids and London Paddington

Description

A safety inspection of the track between Westbury and Pewsey means the line towards Reading is blocked.

Trains running between Westbury and Bath Spa / Chippenham may also be disrupted.

Trains running between Westbury and Bath Spa / Chippenham / Reading may be revised, delayed by up to 45 minutes or diverted via Swindon.

Disruption is expected until 18:00.

Customer advice:

Great Western Railway strongly advise you not to attempt to travel on these routes today. Tickets for today (Friday 2) will be accepted for travel tomorrow, (Saturday 3 January).

Great Western Railway have had a report of a defect between Westbury and Pewsey. Trains cannot run over the affected line until it has been inspected.

The only route available between South Wales and the West of England towards London Paddington is via Swindon.

From Swindon to Didcot Parkway and Reading planned rail replacement is in operation.

Given the increased number of customers that will now be travelling this way, you may have an extended wait to be able to board a coach at Swindon. Great Western Railway are trying to source additional coaches.

You may use your ticket at no extra cost on the following services:

• CrossCountry services between Plymouth and Bristol Parkway. Their services are not affected by this problem

• South Western Railway services between Exeter St Davids / Salisbury and London Waterloo. These services may be busy, but are not affected by this problem

Check before you travel:

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

For helpful advice if you need to travel on a rail replacement service, including accessibility and bicycle information, please use our Rail Replacement Services page.

You can find the pick-up and set-down location of rail replacement services by checking station signage or by searching for your station on our Find a Station page.

Please be advised that replacement vehicles may be busier than usual, and you should allow extra time for your journey.

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.