Passengers planning to travel out of London Paddington over Christmas are being warned that scheduled engineering works will disrupt services.  There will also be disruption on Sunday 26 November as preparatory work takes place.

HS2 work is already well under way to deliver services to Old Oak Common and, linked to this, Network Rail will be installing new signalling and track equipment near London Paddington on Sunday 24 and Wednesday 27 December.  No services are scheduled to run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

As a result, passengers planning to travel on Christmas Eve or on Wednesday 27 December should allow plenty to time to reach their destinations as journey times will be considerably longer than normal.

On Sunday 26 November, the necessary preparatory work will mean that most GWR services will terminate at Reading rather than London Paddington.  There will limited services to or from Slough until midday, and then to Ealing Broadway.  Customers travelling to or from central London can use London Underground‘s District or Central line services from Ealing Broadway. The Elizabeth Line will not operate.

GWR tickets may also be used with South Western Railway between Reading and London Waterloo or on Chiltern Railways between Oxford and London Marylebone.

Joanna Grew, Network Rail’s industry programme director, said: “Over the Christmas period, from Sunday 24 to Wednesday 27 December, we will be carrying out essential preparatory drainage and railway infrastructure works as part of the construction of HS2’s new station at Old Oak Common, near London Paddington.

“As part of this preparation, we also need to close the railway into Paddington on Sunday 26 November where we will also be completing essential railway works between Slough and Paddington which will enable a more reliable railway.

“We appreciate there is never a good time to disrupt journeys but whenever possible we do this at times when fewer people are travelling, such as at Christmas, on bank holidays or at weekends. We thank passengers in advance for their patience and urge them to please check before they travel.”

Dean Haynes, GWR’s station manager for London Paddington, said: “As we continue to invest in our railway, we will only be able to run trains to and from Reading and Ealing Broadway this Sunday and on 24 and 27 of December.

“To keep you moving, we have been working with other train companies to provide alternative routes. However, if you can travel on the days before or after, you should consider doing so because journeys will take much longer while the work takes place.”