GWR is warning customers that the essential travel only advice in place on Thursday will extend into Friday for those travelling within the amber warning area.
Extreme heat can cause rails to expand and buckle, so when temperatures reach certain thresholds, trains must run more slowly to keep services safe. This will mean fewer trains and slightly longer journey times during the warmest periods of each day.
Prolonged high temperatures can also affect equipment on GWR’s older regional train fleet, including engines and cooling systems. This means there may be further short-notice changes or cancellations, particularly during the hottest parts of the day.
To help customers, GWR is easing ticket restrictions for those with tickets to travel on Thursday 25 June and Friday 26 June; tickets from Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday can be used to travel up to and including Tuesday 30 June. Customers can travel earlier in the day (peak time restrictions do however still apply) or delay their journey.
Customers who purchased tickets but do not travel can claim a full refund or amend their ticket. Those who travel and are delayed may be entitled toDelay Repay compensation if they are delayed by 15 minutes or more.
The ticket changes apply to those travelling into, through, or out of the red warning zone on Thursday and the amber warning zone on Friday – local journeys elsewhere on the GWR network do not apply.
While GWR expects to operate the majority of services across its network, the reduction follows the Met Office extreme heat weather warning from Monday 22 June until Friday 26 June.
What customers should do:
Only travel if necessary on Thursday and Friday: The Met Office says the high temperatures could lead to serious illness. Please check here to see the warning areas.
Check before you travel: Where possible, plan ahead and check journey times closer to the time of travel, particularly for the hottest part of the day.
Allow extra time: Journeys are likely to take longer than usual, so build this into your plans, especially if you have a connection to make or need to be somewhere by a specific time.
Bring water: Carry water with you, particularly if you expect to be travelling during the hottest periods or waiting on platforms.
If you feel unwell, don’t board: If you are waiting for a train and feel unwell due to the heat, please speak to a member of staff, who will be able to help.
Customers in the Thames Valley should plan for changes to trains during the hottest parts of the day on Thursday and Friday as well, as service alterations will take place to reduce the need for trains to cross sections of track.
Calling patterns of some local stopping services between London and Reading will be changed to minimise the use of points, which move trains between tracks, to reduce the risk of points failure. This mainly affects all-stations services that normally use the slower relief lines, with changes to trains serving Slough, Maidenhead and Twyford.
Due to the short notice changes, industry information systems will not show the correct train timetable until the day of travel.
GWR and Network Rail Performance Director, Daryn McCombe, said:
“We want to keep our customers safe during this period of extreme heat, which is why we are taking the precautionary step of amending services at the hottest times of day. We know this is disruptive and we’re sorry for the inconvenience it will cause, but customer safety must come first.
“We’d encourage everyone planning to travel today and Friday to travel earlier in the day or delay their journey, allow extra time and bring water with them.”
For the latest service information, customers should check GWR.com before travelling.
