We may sometimes have to change our timetables so please check your journey details as close as possible to your date of travel.
If we do change things after you have bought a ticket, you can either use any reasonable alternative service, or claim a full refund.
Important to note
Details below may be subject to alteration due to planned industrial action – for the latest information visit GWR.com/strike.
Normally replacement road transport will be provided to replace trains where these services are unable to operate.
Due to a nationwide shortage of qualified bus or coach drivers, there may be fewer replacement bus services running than planned.
If this should be the case, we will provide alternative travel options for customers to complete their journeys. Details will be provided in the sections below.
Timetable changes
The following planned engineering work may affect your journey:
2024
October
Track renewal work will affect all train services via Cheltenham Spa.
No trains will stop at Cheltenham Spa or Ashchurch for Tewkesbury.
Trains will run between London Paddington/Swindon and Gloucester.
Trains will also run between Bristol Temple Meads and Gloucester.
CrossCountry trains will run between Penzance/Plymouth and Gloucester.
Replacement buses are planned by GWR between:
- Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa
- Gloucester and Worcester Foregate Street
Replacement buses are also planned by CrossCountry between:
- Gloucester and Birmingham New Street
- Cheltenham Spa and Bromsgrove
Important to note
Train services via Cheltenham Spa or Ashchurch for Tewkesbury will also be impacted on Sunday 27 October until 11:00.
Track renewals will affect train services via Southampton Central.
For more information visit our Wessex webpage.
Work on a new station and essential track maintenance will affect train services between London Paddington and Reading.
Trains will still be running between London Paddington and Reading, but services will be reduced as only two out of four tracks will be available.
Important to note
Further work will impact trains between London Paddington and Reading on Sundays during November and December.
For the latest information about the impact on services due to work on the new station visit our Old Oak Common webpage.
Track renewal work will affect train services between Cardiff Central and Bridgend.
Trains will use an alternative route – extending journey times by around 35 minutes.
As a result of this, GWR trains for Carmarthen will start/terminate at Swansea instead.
Rail improvement work will affect all train services via Worcester Shrub Hill.
Trains will run between London Paddington and Worcestershire Parkway.
Replacement buses are planned between Worcestershire Parkway and Great Malvern.
West Midlands Railway trains will be running between Worcester Foregate Street and Great Malvern or Hereford.
Important to note
On Sunday 20 October, trains can still run between London Paddington and Worcester Shrub Hill, Worcester Foregate Street or Great Malvern up until 11:00.
Train services will also be impacted on all these dates between Worcester and Gloucester via Cheltenham Spa.
Essential track maintenance will affect all train services for Penzance until 15:45.
Up until that time, trains between Penzance and London Paddington or Cardiff Central will start or terminate at St Erth instead.
Replacement buses are planned between Penzance and St Erth.
Rail improvement works will impact train services between Bath Spa and Westbury on Sunday 27 October, then between Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads from Monday 28 to Thursday 31 October.
Sunday 27 October
Trains will be running between:
- Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads or Cardiff Central
- Westbury and Portsmouth Harbour or Weymouth
Replacement buses are planned between:
- Bath Spa, Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge and Westbury
- Bath Spa, Freshford, Avoncliff* and Bradford-on-Avon
* buses stop in Westwood Village
Monday 28 to Thursday 31 October
Trains between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads will use an alternative route – not stopping at Chippenham or Bath Spa.
A reduced train service will be operating between London Paddington and Bath Spa via Chippenham.
Trains will also be running between:
- Bath Spa and Westbury, Portsmouth Harbour or Weymouth
- Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff Central, Gloucester or Worcester
Replacement buses are planned between Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads.
For more information visit our Bristol webpage.
November
Buses replace trains between Warminster and Salisbury on Saturday then between Warminster and Southampton Central on Sunday.
For more information visit our Wessex webpage.
Track work will affect train services between Bristol Parkway and Gloucester from 2000 on Saturday and all day on Sunday with replacement buses planned to run between Bristol Temple Meads and Gloucester.
For more information visit our Bristol webpage.
Buses replace GWR trains between Yeovil Pen Mill and Weymouth.
Buses also replace SWR trains between Wareham and Weymouth.
For more information visit our Wessex webpage.
Track renewal work will affect train services between Reading and Didcot Parkway.
Trains between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads will use an alternative route – not stopping at Didcot Parkway, Swindon or Chippenham.
Trains between London and South Wales will also be diverted – not stopping at Didcot Parkway or Swindon but will stop at Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads.
Trains will still run between London Paddington and Reading, plus between Didcot Parkway and Cheltenham Spa, Oxford, Worcester, Great Malvern or Hereford.
Train services will also run between Swindon and Bristol Temple Meads via Chippenham and Bath Spa.
Replacement buses are planned between:
- Reading and Swindon (non-stop)
- Reading and Didcot Parkway (non-stop and stopping)
CrossCountry trains will operate between Bournemouth and Reading, plus between Didcot Parkway and Manchester Piccadilly with replacement buses between:
- Reading and Didcot Parkway (non-stop)
- Winchester and Didcot Parkway (non-stop)
Signaling upgrade work will affect train services for Carmarthen.
Trains will run between London Paddington and Swansea with replacement buses planned between Swansea and Carmarthen.
Track renewal work will affect train services between Port Talbot Parkway and Swansea or Carmarthen.
Trains will run between London Paddington and Port Talbot Parkway with replacement buses planned between Port Talbot Parkway and Swansea.
Other train services are planned to operate between Swansea and Carmarthen.
Track renewal work will affect train services between Reading and Guildford.
Trains will run between Guildford and Redhill or Gatwick Airport with replacement buses planned between Guildford and Reading.
Trains between London and the South West will stop at Frome instead of Westbury.
Buses also replace trains between Westbury and Frome.
For more information visit our Wessex webpage.
Buses replace trains between Southampton Central and Portsmouth Harbour on Sunday 10 November and the weekend of 16/17 November.
Train services via Southampton Central are also impacted on the weekend of 23/24 November.
For more information visit our Wessex webpage.
Track renewal work will affect train services between Theale and Westbury.
Trains will run between London Paddington/Reading and Theale.
Train services between London Paddington and Devon or Cornwall will use an alternative route between Reading and Taunton diverting via Swindon.
Some of these services will also be diverted via Bristol Temple Meads and some will divert via Westbury instead – further extending journey times.
There will be very limited train service between Swindon and Westbury as a result.
For more information visit our Wessex webpage.
Replacement buses are planned between:
- Theale and Newbury/Bedwyn
- Newbury and Hungerford via Kintbury
- Pewsey and Swindon
- Westbury and Chippenham
Important to note
Further track renewal work will affect train services between Newbury and Westbury from Tuesday 10 to Thursday 12 December.
Saturday 16 November
Trains will still run between London Paddington and Reading, but services will be reduced as only two out of four tracks will be available.
Sunday 17 November
No direct train services between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway/Reading.
Elizabeth line services will run between Ealing Broadway and Reading.
GWR services will still run between:
- Reading and Bristol Temple Meads
- Reading and Exeter St Davids/Paignton/Plymouth
- Reading and Oxford/Worcester/Great Malvern/Hereford
- Reading and Swindon/Bristol Parkway/Cardiff Central
- Reading and Newbury/Bedwyn
- Swindon and Cheltenham Spa.
In addition, some GWR trains will run between:
- London Euston and Swansea/Carmarthen
- London Euston and Plymouth/Penzance
- Please note these diverted services will not stop at Reading to pick-up or drop-off and you will also require a seat reservation for these trains.
Track upgrades linked to train service improvements will affect trains for Newquay.
Replacement buses are planned between St Austell and Newquay.
Important to note
Most replacement buses do not stop at Par, change at St Austell instead.
Further work will affect trains for Newquay in February and March 2025.
December
Trains run between Reading and Ash with replacement buses planned between North Camp and Redhill/Gatwick Airport.
Track renewal work will impact trains to/from Cornwall.
Train services will still run between Plymouth and London Paddington or Cardiff Central, plus CrossCountry services for Birmingham New Street or beyond.
Trains will also run between Liskeard and Penzance, plus on the Looe, Newquay, Falmouth Docks and St Ives branch lines in Cornwall.
Replacement buses are planned between:
- Plymouth and St Austell (non-stop)
- Plymouth and Liskeard (stopping at all stations except Menheniot)
- Liskeard and Menheniot
- Plymouth and Calstock (via Gunnislake)
- Plymouth and Bere Ferrers (via Bere Alston)
As an alternative, valid rail tickets can also be used to travel free of charge on the following Go Ahead buses in the area:
Bus number Route 11 Plymouth to Saltash, Menheniot and Liskeard 12D Plymouth to Devonport Important to note
Night Riviera sleeper services will only operate between London Paddington and Plymouth during this period.
- Replacement buses are planned between Reigate and Redhill/Gatwick Airport.
- Replacement buses are planned between Reading and Basingstoke.
Track renewal work will affect train services between Newbury and Westbury.
Trains will run between London Paddington/Reading and Newbury.
Train services between London Paddington and Devon or Cornwall will use an alternative route between Reading and Taunton diverting via Swindon.
Some of these services will also be diverted via Bristol Temple Meads and some will divert via Westbury instead – further extending journey times.
There will be very limited train service between Swindon and Westbury as a result.
Replacement buses are planned between:
- Newbury and Bedwyn
- Newbury and Hungerford via Kintbury
- Pewsey and Swindon
- Westbury and Chippenham
For more information visit our Wessex webpage.
Replacement buses are planned between Westbury and Warminster.
For more visit our Wessex webpage.
Construction work for a new station will impact all mainline train services to/from London Paddington.
No direct trains between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway/Reading.
GWR services will run between Ealing Broadway and Didcot Parkway – extending to Swindon, Bristol Parkway or Cardiff Central.
Elizabeth line services will also run between Ealing Broadway and Reading.
GWR trains will still run between Reading and:
- Bristol Temple Meads
- Exeter St Davids/Paignton/Plymouth
- Oxford/Worcester/Great Malvern/Hereford
- Newbury/Bedwyn
Change at Swindon or Bristol Parkway for trains to/from Cheltenham Spa.
In addition, some GWR trains will run between:
- London Euston and Swansea/Carmarthen
- London Euston and Plymouth/Penzance
Please note these services will not stop at Reading to pick-up or drop-off and you will also require a seat reservation for these trains.
For more information about travelling with us over the Christmas and New Year period visit our Christmas webpage.
Rail improvement work will affect all train services via Westbury or Warminster.
Trains between Reading and the south west will stop at Frome instead of Westbury – trains cannot run to/from London Paddington Friday 27 to Sunday 29 December.
For more visit our Wessex webpage.
Looking ahead
Further rail improvement work is planned in the next few months affecting the following routes:
- Weston-super-Mare to Taunton – Monday 3 to Friday 7 February
- Fareham to Portsmouth Harbour – Saturday 1 to Friday 16 February
- Guildford to Redhill/Gatwick Airport – Saturday 15 to Sunday 23 February
- Par to Newquay – Monday 24 February to Sunday 23 March
- Exeter St Davids to Barnstaple/Okehampton – Saturday 8 to Friday 14 March
- Castle Cary to Yeovil Pen Mill/Weymouth – Monday 10 to Friday 14 March