Half-hourly services between South Wales and London to return for festive season

From Monday 20 December 2021, GWR will reintroduce half-hourly services between Cardiff and London Paddington, restoring trains cut because of the pandemic. In total 18 extra trains, nine in each direction, will operate. 

Better connecting Cardiff and Bristol, further improvements in the December timetable change will also see GWR introduce all-electric Class 387 services between Cardiff and London Paddington for the first time, providing a low carbon, sustainable way to supplement capacity on the popular route. 

These will start with a limited service on Saturdays and Sundays from 18 December, plus an early-morning service on weekdays, but will also mean GWR can in the future provide extra, up to 12-carriage capacity, for events at the Principality Stadium.

MP for Newport East Jess Morden said:

“I’m really pleased to learn that Great Western Railway is going to have a new timetable, and that timetable includes half-hourly services from Newport to London and from South Wales during weekdays. I think it’s really important to get those services back up and running.

“We’re seeing more people now using the trains again and it’s really important in terms of climate change and decarbonisation. Well done to Great Western Railway and look out for those half-hourly services on the way from South Wales to London.”

More services will also be extended from Cardiff through to Penzance, better connecting the South West with South Wales.

GWR Managing Director Mark Hopwood said:

“Good rail services are key to economic recovery and to decarbonisation.

“We believe that this new timetable, reintroducing half-hourly services between Cardiff and London Paddington, and running our first all-electric Class 387 services to Cardiff, will provide our communities with the help and support they need as together we rebuild and renew for the future.”

The extra trains form part of wider December timetable change improvements rail operator GWR is making across the south, including the first MetroWest trains for Bristol which will increase rail services on the Severn Beach line to half-hourly.

From Monday 13 December GWR will double services on the Severn Beach Line, from hourly to half-hourly, throughout the course of the day. These mark the first step in providing thousands of additional seats, alongside plans for new stations through the MetroWest initiative backed by the West of England Combined Authority.

From January GWR branch lines in London and the Thames Valley will also have their frequency restored to pre-Covid levels: trains between Slough and Windsor will return to three trains an hour; the Greenford branch line will return to a half-hourly service, as will trains between Twyford and Henley. Local services between Didcot and Paddington are also to be restored a full half-hourly service off peak. 

In line with the latest Government advice, GWR is encouraging customers to travel safely. People are reminded to:

• Wear a face covering
• Wash your hands more regularly
• Buy tickets online, on a smart card or by using the GWR app

Notes to editors 

Great Western Railway (GWR), operates trains across the Great Western franchise area, which includes South Wales, the West Country, the Cotswolds, across southern England and into London.  

GWR provides high speed, commuter, regional and branch line train services, and before the covid-19 pandemic helped over 100 million passengers reach their destinations every year. GWR was recently awarded an extension to its direct award franchise (called DA3), which shall run up to 31 March 2023 with an option to extend for a further year.  

GWR’s enhanced cleaning regime includes: 

• A 24% increase in cleaning hours every week since March 2020 
• Sanitising (fogging) of 1,120 vehicles every 4 weeks 
• Carrying out 2,150 on board surface tests (ATP) every four weeks, to ensure the effectiveness of our cleaning 
• 272 train cleaning processes reviewed, and many adapted 
• Hand sanitising facilities at key stations across its network.