The new timetable, starting this Sunday (2 June), sees the return of weekday, SuperFast services between London Paddington and South Wales for the first time since March 2020.
Other changes include the doubling of midday capacity from London Paddington and Plymouth; and additional services on the corridor between London Paddington and Bristol Parkway, as well as additional services to summer holiday destinations.
GWR Managing Director Mark Hopwood said: “We are continuing to work closely with our industry partners to improve performance and capacity so that we can deliver the services our customers expect.
“Services that help to support the local and regional economy and connect people to work, to schools and colleges, to friends and family and to some of the best leisure destinations in the UK.”
Two new early evening weekday services between London Paddington and Bristol Parkway allow for the introduction of two SuperFast trains to Swansea, with journey-time savings of up to 30 minutes.
The trains run fast from London Paddington to Bristol Parkway (not stopping at Reading and Swindon) before continuing to south Wales, meaning huge time savings.
Other seasonal changes include some London Paddington to Carmarthen trains being extended to Pembroke Dock.
Detailed service changes are available in online journey planners and through GWR’s Journey Check service.
Service Changes
Two new services made up of 8-car class 387 trains will run between London Paddington and Bristol Parkway, calling at Reading, Didcot Parkway, Swindon and Bristol Parkway. These will depart Paddington at 4.12pm and 7.12pm.
Including these services allows speeding up the corresponding South Wales services to become SuperFast.
The 4.18pm Paddington to Swansea service now runs fast to Bristol Parkway, not stopping at Reading and Swindon – saving up to 30 minutes of journey time. This service has also been extended to Carmarthen. The 3.48pm Paddington to Carmarthen service will now terminate at Swansea.
The 7.18pm Paddingtomn to Swansea service will also now run fast to Bristol Parkway, not stopping at Reading and Swindon – a journey time improvement of up to 22 minutes.
(Lead image: Great Western Railway)
