Railway passengers are bracing themselves for a week of chaos as industrial action by the RMT, Aslef and TSSA unions is expected to cause severe disruptions to some rail services. Ahead of the planned strikes, Great Western Railway (GWR) has issued a significantly reduced timetable, which Bristolian train passengers may want to take note of.
Rail services are expected to be drastically affected on Wednesday, July 27 and Saturday, July 30. On strike days, an extremely limited service will operate between 0700 and 1830, with final trains setting off much earlier.
A number of train routes serving Bristol will not be in operation on some days this week, including the Severn Beach line, Worcester/Gloucester-Bristol, Bristol Temple Meads-London Paddington, and Bristol Temple Meads-Cardiff Central. Scroll down to see the full list of affected services.
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As a result of the timing of the strike action, services after strike days will also be affected. On these days, passengers are being asked to find alternative means of travel, and to only travel if they absolutely have to.
The majority of train services will not be in operation and, on some routes, there will be no services. During the strike action, GWR will be operating as many trains as possible, but has issued the following advice for those planning to travel over the next week:
Tuesday, July 26
Trains will run as planned with some minor changes to late night services. Please check before you travel.
Wednesday, July 27
A significantly limited service will operate please make alternative travel arrangements and only travel if absolutely necessary. No rail services will operate on the following routes:
- All lines in Cornwall, including all branch lines
- West of Exeter towards Plymouth/Cornwall (due to no contingency signallers)
- All branch lines in Devon (Barnstaple, Exmouth, Paignton, Okehampton)
- South Wales main line (Carmarthen/Swansea–Cardiff Central)
- Berks & Hants line (Reading–Taunton via Castle Cary)
- Wessex main line (Bath Spa–Portsmouth Harbour)
- Heart of Wessex line (Westbury–Weymouth)
- TransWilts line (Swindon–Westbury via Melksham)
- Severn Beach line (Bristol Temple Meads–Severn Beach)
- North Cotswolds line (Hereford/Worcester–Oxford)
- South Cotswolds line (Cheltenham Spa–Swindon)
- Worcester/Gloucester–Bristol
- Greenford branch line
- North Downs line (Reading–Gatwick Airport)
Thursday, July 28
Trains will continue to be disrupted, please make alternative travel arrangements and only travel if absolutely necessary.
Friday, July 29
A normal train timetable will be in operation.
Saturday, July 30
The Aslef strike among GWR train drivers on Saturday 30 July will have an even greater impact, and most parts of the GWR network will have no train service. An extremely limited service will only operate on the routes below. Services will start later and finish much earlier than normal.
- Bristol Temple Meads-London Paddington
- Bristol Temple Meads-Cardiff Central
- Reading to Oxford
- Reading to Basingstoke
No other GWR services will run.
Sunday, July 31
Disruption is likely, so check before you travel.
This is not the first time in recent weeks that the railways have faced signficant disruption. In late June, strikes took place across the country, halting many commuters in their tracks. When the record-breaking heatwave hit last week, GWR told passengers to only travel 'if absolutely necessary' and many services were cancelled.
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