From Christmas Day to Sunday 3 January, Great Western Railway (GWR) will not be able to run any train services to/from London Paddington station.
Network Rail is carrying out track upgrades in the Slough area over Christmas, which will affect London Paddington services. Other rail improvement work is planned in the area at the same time to minimise disruption for customers.
Network Rail will also be replacing track at Redhill and Salisbury during the Christmas period.
You'll still be able to travel to your destination using alternative routes, but journeys may take longer.
As usual over Christmas:
- train services finish earlier on Christmas Eve
- there are no GWR trains operating on Christmas Day
- there are no GWR trains operating on Boxing Day
Journeys via London
The following advice is in place if you’re planning on travelling to or from London over Christmas and New Year:
Travelling between London and the West of England or South Wales
- travel on GWR trains between London Euston and Swindon, extending to Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare, or Swansea and Carmarthen
- change at Swindon or Bristol Parkway for trains to Cheltenham Spa
- change at Bristol Parkway or Bristol Temple Meads for trains to the South West
Please note: these services cannot be used at Oxford, Didcot Parkway or Reading
Travelling between London and Reading
- use GWR services starting at Reading instead of London Paddington, including trains for the Cotswolds, South Wales, Bristol, Somerset or Devon and Cornwall
- travel between London Waterloo and Reading on SWR services, but these may be extremely busy on Monday 28 December due to rugby at Twickenham
- use replacement buses via Salisbury from Friday 1 to Sunday 3 January
Travelling between London and Oxford or the Thames Valley
- travel between London Marylebone and High Wycombe, Oxford or Banbury by train
- change at Oxford for onward connections towards Worcester or Reading
Travelling between London and Slough or Maidenhead
- use District and Central line services from central London to Ealing Broadway
- use Metropolitan or Piccadilly line services from central London to Hillingdon
- use replacement buses from Ealing Broadway or Hillingdon to Slough until Wednesday 30 December
- use Elizabeth line services between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington
- use replacement buses from Hayes & Harlington to Slough from New Year’s Eve
- change at Slough for GWR trains to Reading, except on Sunday 3 January
- use replacement buses from Slough to Maidenhead on Sunday 3 January
- change at Maidenhead for GWR trains to Reading on Sunday 3 January
Travelling to/from Heathrow Airport
- use Piccadilly line services to/from Heathrow Airport on all dates except Christmas Day, when buses will operate between terminals instead
- use Heathrow Express and Elizabeth line trains for the airport from New Year’s Eve
Travelling to/from Gatwick Airport
- use replacement buses between Reigate and Gatwick Airport from Sunday 20 December to Sunday 3 January, except on Christmas Day or Boxing Day
For more information about changes to our services, visit our planned engineering webpage.
Please note: trains for London Paddington via Slough will also be impacted by rail improvement work on Sunday 10 January.
Night Riviera Sleeper
GWR’s overnight sleeper services between London and Cornwall will be paused after Sunday 20 December. Services are set to resume on Sunday 3 January.
The service to Penzance runs from London Euston instead of London Paddington on Sunday 3 January only – the service from Penzance will run into London Paddington.
Visit our Night Riviera Sleeper webpage for more information.