Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Paddington train services disrupted for third day in a row

Many Great Western Railway and Elizabeth line services to and from Paddington are being cancelled or delayed because of a broken rail.

Neil Lancefield
Tuesday 09 January 2024 05:20 EST
The Great Western Main Line runs to and from Paddington (Jonathan Brady/PA)
The Great Western Main Line runs to and from Paddington (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Wire)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Train services at the UK’s second busiest station have been disrupted for the third day in a row after another infrastructure failure on a route beset by problems.

Many Great Western Railway (GWR) and Elizabeth line services to and from Paddington are being cancelled or delayed because of a broken rail in Slough, Berkshire.

Disruption is expected to continue throughout Tuesday as fewer trains than normal are able to run on some lines.

A spokeswoman for Network Rail, which is responsible for Britain’s rail infrastructure, said: “Due to a broken rail in the Slough area, services between London Paddington and Reading will be subject to delays and possible cancellations for the rest of the day.

“We apologise to customers for the disruption this will cause to their journeys and ask that they check before they travel.”

Engineers will replace the track when services stop running in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The Great Western Main Line – which runs to and from Paddington – has suffered many problems in recent months.

On Sunday, damage to the overhead electric wires caused disruption.

A day later, speed restrictions were imposed due to a broken rail crossing, which is used to transfer trains from one line to another.

Thousands of passengers were stranded on trains for several hours on December 7 because of a problem with overhead wires.

Four damaged rails were discovered within eight days in November.

An investigation into the performance of the route was launched by the Office of Rail and Road in the same month.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in