Great Western Railway said a Paddington fire disrupted trains between London Paddington and Reading on Saturday, September 5, with services cancelled, delayed or terminated after a power supply failure affecting the overhead electric wires.
The disruption was expected until 7pm. GWR said passengers could use alternative travel options at no extra cost, including tickets on Chiltern Railways between Oxford and London Marylebone, South Western Railway between Reading and London Waterloo, and London Underground’s Bakerloo and Jubilee lines.
GWR and Network Rail
GWR said: "We are investigating the cause with Network Rail." The company also said journey planners, live departure boards and station staff were available to help passengers check routes and find alternative options.
For passengers whose trains were cancelled, GWR said they could travel on either of the two services before or two services after their original train. If the affected service was a peak service or less flexible, customers could still travel with their original ticket at no extra cost.
London Paddington and Reading
Replacement road transport had not been requested at the time, even as the disruption hit a major London to Oxford corridor. GWR said it was monitoring the situation and would provide updates if replacement road transport changed.
Passengers who missed the last train of the day because of a cancellation or another delay were told: "If you miss the last train of the day due to cancellation or because another train was delayed, we won't leave you stranded." The key question now is what caused the power supply failure affecting the overhead electric wires, and GWR said it was still investigating that with Network Rail.
