Vital engineering work means no trains between Reading and Paddington on Sunday 17 November

To allow for work on the new HS2 station at Old Oak Common – and Network Rail improvements to track, signals and overhead wires between Reading and Paddington – engineering work will take place over the weekend of 16/17 November.

On Sunday 17 November, Great Western Railway will be operating a reduced timetable.  Most long-distance services will start from or terminate at Reading, where customers will be able to pick up TfL Elizabeth line trains to Ealing Broadway and then change for London Underground services into central London.  

Those travelling from South Wales and from Devon and Cornwall will, however, each have one service an hour into London Euston instead. These trains will not stop at Reading. To help keep customers comfortable and minimise crowding, these trains will be reservation only and must be booked in advance. 

Due to crew availability on Sundays, further timetable changes may be needed; these will not be shown in journey planners until early on Sunday, 17 November. GWR has relaxed ticket restrictions to allow customers to switch journeys to travel on Saturday 16 or Monday 18 November instead.

Where long-distance services are able to operate on Sunday, 17 November, they will be extremely busy, and given the possibility of short-notice cancellations or alterations, customers should check their journey on the day.

On Saturday, 16 November, long-distance GWR services will still run between London Paddington and Reading; however, services will be reduced, and there will be no GWR stopping services between London Paddington and Reading MTR. Elizabeth line services will continue to run.

GWR Operations Director, Richard Rowland, said:  

“This is a really complex operation, and we have worked hard to make sure people get to where they want to go. We will run an hourly service from the south-west of England – Cornwall and Devon – and an hourly service from South Wales, which will go into Euston.   

“We will then have several trains which will terminate at Reading, and people can change there. We will also have trains to Ealing Broadway for those making more local journeys. They will be able to change on to the London Underground and into London that way.  

“Trains on the Sunday will, however, be significantly reduced and we would urge people to travel on the day before or the day after, freeing up space for those who have to travel on the Sunday. We have altered tickets to allow people to do so.”

Further work will take place in November and December as part of Network Rail’s performance improvement plan in the Thames Valley – named Project Brunel – which includes drainage upgrades for areas of the line that frequently flood, as well as replacing track and sleepers (which support the rails) that have come to the end of their useable life.

Sunday 24 November

• No direct train services to or from London Paddington until 1115.
• Replacement buses are planned between Ealing Broadway and Slough.
• After 1115, trains will run but services between London Paddington and Reading will be reduced as only two out of four tracks will be available.

 Sunday 1 December

• No direct train services to or from London Paddington until 1030.
• Use London Underground services between Paddington and Ealing Broadway instead.
• After 1030, trains will run but services between London Paddington and Reading will be reduced as only two out of four tracks will be available.

Marcus Jones, Network Rail’s Western route director, said:

“This November and December, we have a number of packages of engineering work in the Thames Valley area, which will unfortunately mean some disruption for passengers.

“Our work to improve the performance of the line in the Thames Valley is also well under way and we’ll be upgrading drainage systems and the track later in November and into early December. These upgrades are vitally important to ensure that we can continue to see positive changes.

“I’d like to thank passengers in advance for their patience. There’s never a good time to close the line, however, we do try to ensure that any disruption takes place when fewer people are using the railway, such as at weekends. Please check before you travel on weekends in November and early December.

“We have made good progress with our Thames Valley improvement plan, although there is more to do. These upgrades are essential to our goal of reducing disruption and improving the resilience of this stretch of line into the future.”

Peter Gow, Project Client for Old Oak Common Station at HS2 Ltd, said:

“Old Oak Common will be a super-hub of connectivity, bringing together HS2, Great Western mainline, and Heathrow Express services, as well as becoming the 42^nd stop on the Elizabeth line.  

“The new station is a catalyst for transport-led regeneration of a previously industrial site in west London, with thousands of new homes and jobs to be created as part of the development.  

“As we construct the new station, we are working collaboratively with our partners in the rail industry to reduce disruption to passengers.”