No trains between Oxford / Didcot Parkway and Reading: major disruption is expected until at least the end of the day  

Route(s) affected

CrossCountry between Newcastle / York / Manchester Piccadilly and Reading, between Manchester Piccadilly and Southampton Central / Bournemouth, and also between Birmingham New Street and Bournemouth

Great Western Railway between Penzance / Exeter St Davids / Carmarthen / Swansea / Cardiff Central / Hereford / Great Malvern / Worcester Foregate Street / Worcester Shrub Hill / Cheltenham Spa / Weston-super-Mare / Bristol Temple Meads / Banbury / Oxford / Dicot Parkway and London Paddington, and also between Didcot Parkway and Reading

Description

There has been a gas leak near the railway in the Didcot Parkway area. This has closed all lines running between Didcot Parkway and Reading.

As a result of this, trains are unable to operate between these stations. Trains between Oxford / Swindon / Didcot Parkway and Reading will either be cancelled in full, or revised to only operate for part of their normal route.

Great Western Railway are advising that you do not travel on any route between Didcot Parkway and Reading.

Major disruption is expected to continue until at least the end of the day.

A visual disruption map video is available.

CrossCountry customer advice for today:

There will be no CrossCountry services operating between Oxford and Reading in either direction.

Rail replacement transport:

Rail replacement transport has been requested to run as follows:

• Two coaches will run hourly at XX:20 from 07:20 until 23:20 between Oxford and Reading

• Two coaches will run hourly at XX:20 from 06:20 until 21:20 between Reading and Oxford

You may use your ticket on the following services at no extra cost:

Between Manchester / Birmingham and Reading / Southampton / Bournemouth via London:

• Avanti West Coast services between Manchester Piccadilly / Birmingham New Street and London Euston

• Chiltern Railways services between Birmingham Moor Street and London Marylebone

• East Midlands Railway between Sheffield / Derby / Nottingham and London St Pancras International

• Great Western Railway services between Reading and London Paddington (and between Oxford and London Paddington)

• London Underground services between London Terminals (please show your ticket to gateline staff on the Underground to be allowed through the ticket gates)

• South Western Railway services between London Waterloo and Bournemouth

Between Birmingham and Reading via Oxford:

• Alternative CrossCountry services between Birmingham New Street and Worcestershire Parkway

• Great Western Railway services between Worcestershire Parkway and Reading

• Chiltern Railways services between Birmingham Moor Street and Haddenham & Thame Parkway, and also between Haddenham & Thame Parkway and Oxford

You may also use your ticket on the following operators:

• West Midlands Railway services between Coventry and Leamington Spa

• Great Western Railway services between Banbury and Didcot Parkway, and also between Reading and Basingstoke

You do not need to amend your ticket to use it on the above alternatives.

Other options:

If your CrossCountry train is cancelled, then you can use your ticket on the two CrossCountry services operating before and the two CrossCountry services after your cancelled service

Unfortunately, any seat reservations will not be carried over, but coaches B, H and L are the unreserved coaches on CrossCountry services where available, so please head to them.

If you decide to travel from a different station due to this disruption and need to return to that station later, you will also be able to use your existing ticket to do this at no extra cost

Great Western Railway customer advice for today:

There will be no Great Western Railway services operating between Didcot Parkway and Reading in either direction. If you are intending on travelling between these stations or on an affected route; Great Western Railway advise that you do not travel.

Services will continue to operate on the following routes either side of the disruption, including:

• Between South Wales and Bristol Temple Meads

• Between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington via an alternative diversionary route (this is expected to be hourly)

• Between Bristol Temple Meads and Swindon via Bath Spa / Chippenham

• Between Bristol Temple Meads and Didcot Parkway (this is expected to be hourly)

• Between Hereford / Worcester Foregate Street and Oxford

• Between Cheltenham Spa and Swindon

• Between Oxford and Didcot Parkway

• Between Reading and London Paddington

You may use your ticket on the following services at no extra cost:

• Avanti West Coast between Birmingham New Street and London Euston

• Chiltern Railways between Oxford and London Marylebone

• CrossCountry between Birmingham New Street and Cheltenham Spa / Gloucester / Bristol Parkway / Bristol Temple Meads / Newport (South Wales) / Cardiff Central

• Elizabeth line between London Paddington and Reading

• London Underground between London Marylebone and London Paddington

• South Western Railway between London Waterloo and Salisbury, allowing you to connect on to Great Western Railway services that go to Bath Spa, Bristol stations, Newport (South Wales) and Cardiff Central

• West Midlands Railway between Birmingham New Street and Worcester Foregate Street / Worcester Shrub Hill / Hereford

• Reading Buses routes:

  • Sky blue 16 between Tilehurst (Kentwood Circle), Reading West (Oxford Road) and Reading (Station Road)

  • Azure 43 between Pangbourne and Reading

• Oxford Buses routes:

  • route 35: Oxford (City Centre, Westgate), Radley (Station)

• Thames Travel routes:

  • route X34: Newbury (Wharf), Didcot Parkway (Station)

  • route X40: Oxford (Westgate), Reading (Northern Interchange / Station Road)

  • route 95: Culham (Science Centre), Didcot Parkway (Station)

  • route X2: Didcot Parkway (Station), Oxford (Station)

  • route X32:Oxford (City Centre, St Aldates, Stop H3), Didcot Parkway (Station)

  • route X40: Oxford (Westgate), Reading (Northern Interchange / Station Road)

• Stagecoach Buses routes:

  • route S3 between Oxford (Station), Oxford (Magdalen Street), Finstock (Fawler Lane) and Charlbury (Bell Hotel)

  • route S4 and X4 between Oxford (Station), Oxford (Parkway station), Tackley (Nethercote Road), Heyford (Steeple Aston Heyford Bridge) and Banbury (Bus Station)

  • route S7 between Oxford (Magdalen Street), Oxford (Parkway station) and Hanborough (Station)

If your train is cancelled, you may travel on either of the two services before, or two services after, your original train. If these are peak services or less flexible, you can still travel with your original ticket, at no extra cost.

You may wish to consider postponing your journey until service returns to normal.

If you are booked to travel through Didcot today, Wednesday 23 September, you can use your ticket to travel on Thursday 24 September instead, or apply for a fee-free refund if you no longer wish to travel.

Additional information:

Engineers from gas distribution company SGN are on site working to rectify the problem as quickly and safely as possible. Network Rail and train operators are working together to manage the impact on passengers, but normal services cannot operate until the leak has been repaired because the railway falls within the safety exclusion zone.

Severe disruption is expected to services that would usually travel between Didcot and Reading, and passengers are being warned that trains able to run either side of the affected area will be extremely busy.

Check before you travel:

You can check your journey using the National Rail real-time Journey Planner. Please note that during this disruption late notice cancellations and alterations remain likely.

For helpful advice if you need to travel on a rail replacement service, including accessibility and bicycle information, please use our Rail Replacement Services page.

You can find the pick-up and drop-off location of rail replacement services by checking station signage or by searching for your station on our Find a Station page.

Please be advised that replacement vehicles may be busier than usual, and you should allow extra time for your journey.

Compensation:

You may be entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey today. Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.