Rail passenger warned of further disruption as train drivers strike on Saturday

Rail passengers are advised not to travel unless their journey is essential on a number of routes this Saturday (30 July) due to the impact of industrial action.

Transport for Wales (TfW) is not involved in Saturday’s industrial action by members of the train driver’s union ASLEF, but some of its services are likely to be extremely busy as a result of the severely-reduced timetable put in place by other operators.

TfW services on the South Wales Main Line between Swansea and Newport are expected to be very busy because there are no Great Western Railway (GWR) services running between Cardiff and Swansea, and an extremely limited service between Cardiff and Newport on Saturday. TfW will be running additional services along this route in order to provide extra capacity.

Services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham, where the 2022 Commonwealth Games are taking place, will also be particularly busy as West Midlands Railway are also not operating on Saturday.

TfW is advising customers not to travel unless their journey is essential between:

• Swansea and Newport
• Shrewsbury and Birmingham.

Extra staff will be deployed at stations to provide customer services.

All customers are strongly advised to check for the latest travel information on the TfW website, mobile app or social media channels before making their journey.

GWR

GWR says that most parts of its network will have no train service on Saturday and is advising passengers to make alternative travel arrangements and only travel if absolutely necessary.

An extremely limited service will operate between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington, Reading to Oxford and Reading to Basingstoke, and services will start later and finish much earlier than normal.

Trains will continue to be disrupted on Sunday and passengers are urged to make alternative travel arrangements and only travel if absolutely necessary.

A reduced service frequency will operate on long-distance routes between London Paddington to Swansea, London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads, London Paddington to Plymouth/Penzance (inc via the Kennet Valley) and London Paddington to Oxford.

CrossCountryTtrains says it will be running a normal service on 30 July but warns passengers of disruption if they have a connecting ticket on to Arriva Rail London, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern or West Midlands Trains.

Avanti West Coast is running a normal service on Saturday but is warning that trains will be busier than usual because of people travelling to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Passengers are also being warned of potential disruption due to the impact of the strike on connecting services.