Strike action disrupts train travel with services between London and …

Train travel will be disrupted on Saturday, July 29 due to an “extremely limited service”, Great Western Railway has confirmed. The RMT union has announced strike action that will affect rail services throughout the day. Most of the services to be hit are in England, but trains betweenLondon Paddington and Cardiff ^[1] will also be affected.

Services on affected routes started at 7am but will not run much later than 6.30pm. The last train from London Paddington to Cardiff Central will arrive in the Welsh capital at 6.37pm, with no further arrivals until Sunday. Great Western Railway has asked those hoping to travel by train to check the status of their planned journey before setting out. You can get the latest WalesOnline newsletters e-mailed to you directly for free by signing up here ^[2].

A spokesman for the railway company said: “The RMT union has announced strike action that will affect rail services on Saturday 29 July. In addition, there could be further disruption from Monday, July 31 to Saturday, August 5 and from Monday, August 7 to Saturday, August 12 due to industrial action short of a strike by the Aslef union. This is likely to cause some short-notice alterations or cancellations. Please check your journey before setting out.

“On the RMT strike days a reduced, revised timetable will operate across several train operators, including GWR. Many parts of the GWR network will have no service at all. Services will start later, finish much earlier and only operate for a limited period during the day. During action short of a strike and the days after strikes, services could also be affected by a limited number of short-notice cancellations and alterations.

“If you intend to travel where trains are running, please check before you travel. Trains that are operating will be busier than usual because we will not be able to offer the normal service frequency. Other train operators are also affected by this action, so onward travel could also be affected. Where we are able to run services, they are expected to be extremely busy and we are not able to provide bus replacement services. Customers who purchased tickets but did not travel can claim a full refund or amend their ticket. Those who travelled and are delayed may be entitled to Delay Repay compensation if they are delayed by 15 minutes or more.”

The following routes are the ones which will run a very limited service on Saturday:

London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads
London Paddington and Didcot (with replacement bus transport to Oxford)
London Paddington and Cardiff
London Paddington and Plymouth (calling Pewsey/Westbury/Castle Cary)
Cheltenham Spa/Gloucester and Swindon
London Paddington and Newbury
London Paddington and Reading/Didcot Parkway
West Ealing and Greenford
Slough and Windsor
Maidenhead and Bourne End
Twyford and Henley-on-Thames
Reading and Basingstoke
Reading and Redhill
Cardiff Central and Westbury
Bristol and Plymouth

Transport for Wales (TfW) is not involved in Saturday’s strike action but has warned that its services could be affected due to the reduced timetable from other operators including Great Western Railway. A spokesman for TfW said: “The National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) has announced strike action at 14 Train Operating Companies (not including TfW) on Saturday 29 July.

“The train drivers’ union ASLEF has also announced a ban on overtime from Monday 31 July to Saturday 5 August. Transport for Wales (TfW) is not involved in industrial action by members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) and members of the train driver’s union ASLEF. TfW services will be running but other train operators’ services across the whole of Wales, England and Scotland will be limited. Some of our services are likely to be extremely busy as a result of the severely-reduced timetable put in place by other operators.”

References

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