GREAT Western Railway (GWR) has warned customers of disruption ahead of upcoming industrial action.  

The rail service has said it won’t operate any long-distance services, direct trains between London Paddington and Reading nor trains on many other parts of its network tomorrow (May 8).  

The Aslef union has announced strike action that will affect Great Western Railway, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry and other train operators on Wednesday, May 8.   

 A reduced, revised timetable will operate across several train operators, including GWR, with many parts of the GWR network having no service at all and trains that are running only operating for a limited period during the day.    

Only a very limited service will run on the following GWR routes, between 7am and around 7pm:     

Due to engineering work, no long-distance services will operate on the GWR network, and strike action will also affect other operators.  In addition, there could be further disruption from Monday, May 6, to Saturday, May 11, due to industrial action.

The operator has warned that this is likely to cause some short-notice alterations and cancellations, especially at the weekend or late at night.   On the days after strikes, services could also be affected by a limited number of short-notice cancellations and alterations.  

Those intending to travel where trains are running are warned to check both outward and return journeys before travelling.  Where trains can run, they are expected to be extremely busy and bus replacement services are not able to be provided.    

Customers who purchased tickets but do not travel can claim a full refund or amend their ticket. Those who travel and are delayed may be entitled to Delay Repay compensation if they are delayed by 15 minutes or more.