A gas leak on railway land close to Didcot Parkway station in South Oxfordshire has forced the closure of major rail lines this Wednesday morning, leaving thousands of commuters stranded during peak hours.
The route between Reading and Swindon is completely shut, with disruption anticipated to persist throughout the entire day.
The stretch of track serves as the critical corridor from London Paddington to destinations including Bristol, Bath, Swindon, South Wales, Cheltenham and the wider West Country.
Both Great Western Railway and CrossCountry have urged passengers not to travel, as engineers from gas distribution firm SGN race to repair the leak.
Some diversionary routes are operating, but capacity remains severely limited.
Seventy-two services to and from Didcot have been cancelled outright, alongside 39 at Oxford and 45 at Reading.
GWR has advised passengers to travel only if absolutely essential, while CrossCountry is warning people against journeys between Reading and Oxford.
Frustrated travellers have taken to social media to vent their anger.
GWR has advised passengers to travel only if absolutely essential, while CrossCountry is warning people against journeys between Reading and Oxford
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PA
One commuter posted a photograph from Swindon showing Paddington-bound trains scrapped from as early as 6am, writing: “Apparently there’s been a gas leak around Didcot Parkway so they’ve cancelled most of the services, and no replacement bus services running either.”
They added: “The staff at Swindon reckon this will last all day and probably tomorrow.”
Another user responded: “Absolutely ridiculous not good enough.”
Network Rail confirmed that the railway falls within a safety exclusion zone established around the leak, meaning normal operations cannot resume until SGN’s engineers have completed repairs.
The infrastructure operator said: “Engineers from gas distribution company SGN are on site working to rectify the problem as quickly and safely as possible.”
It added: “Network Rail and train operators are working together to manage the impact on passengers, but normal services cannot operate until the leak has been repaired because the railway falls within the safety exclusion zone.”
Long-distance services passing through Didcot face the most severe impact, and Network Rail has cautioned that any trains running on either side of the closure will be extremely crowded.
Despite the widespread cancellations, GWR is managing to run approximately one train per hour between London Paddington and Bath or Bristol.
Those making the journey will be forced to travel via an alternative diversionary route, though this represents only a fraction of normal capacity.
Services are also operating on unaffected portions of the network.
The unaffected areas include between Reading and Paddington, which sits on the Elizabeth Line.
Swindon and Cheltenham Spa, Swindon and Chippenham, Bath and Bristol, South Wales to Bristol Temple Meads, and Worcester to Oxford will also continue to run unaffected.
An hourly connection between Bristol Temple Meads and Didcot is also running, along with services between Oxford and Didcot.
Passengers will have limited opportunities to travel via a replacement bus service.
A bus will link Swindon, Didcot and Reading throughout the day.
However, Network Rail has acknowledged that bus capacity will be insufficient to accommodate all affected passengers.
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