Great Western Railway’s (GWR) December timetable changes see the resumption of half-hourly services between London and South Wales in time for the festive season.

Half-hourly services between London and Cardiff will resume on Monday, 20 December, and will restore trains cut because of the pandemic. In total 18 extra trains will run, nine in each direction.

The increase in services forms part of GWR’s new timetable introduced from Monday, 13 December. There will be better connections between Cardiff and Bristol, whilst on the Severn Beach line services will double from hourly to half-hourly throughout the day.

That is the first stage in providing thousands of additional seats and provision of new stations through the MetroWest initiative, which is backed by the West of England Combined Authority.  More services will also be extended from Cardiff through to Penzance, providing better connections between the South Wales and the south-west.

The December timetable change will see the introduction of all-electric Class 387 services between London and Cardiff, providing a low-carbon, sustainable way to supplement capacity on the route. They will start with a limited service on Saturdays and Sundays from 18 December, plus an early morning service on weekdays. Class 387s will also allow GWR to provide extra capacity for events at the Principality Stadium by using them in a 12-coach configuration.

From January, services on GWR branch lines in London and the Thames Valley will be restored to their pre-Covid levels. Trains between Slough and Windsor will return to three trains an hour, services on the Greenford branch and between Twyford and Henley will return to a half-hourly service, and local services between Didcot and Paddington will be restored to a full half-hourly service off peak.

MP for Newport East Jess Morden said: “I’m really pleased to learn that Great Western Railway is going to have a new timetable, and that timetable includes half-hourly services from Newport to London and from South Wales during weekdays. I think it’s really important to get those services back up and running.

“We’re seeing more people now using the trains again and it’s really important in terms of climate change and decarbonisation. Well done to Great Western Railway and look out for those half-hourly services on the way from South Wales to London.”

GWR Managing Director Mark Hopwood said: “Good rail services are key to economic recovery and to decarbonisation.

“We believe that this new timetable, reintroducing half-hourly services between Cardiff and London Paddington, and running our first all-electric Class 387 services to Cardiff, will provide our communities with the help and support they need as together we rebuild and renew for the future.”