Storm Franklin: Great Western Railway warns 'only travel if absolutely necessary'

Great Western Railway has warned people not to travel unless it is absolutely essential, as they work to clear the lines.

Across the region, strong winds have strewn debris onto the tracks. Network Rail and GWR have been working around-the-clock to clear it so a full service can resume.

Currently, GWR is running a significantly reduced service and the trains that are running have a speed limit of 50 miles per hour due to the strong winds.

And the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning until Monday (February 21) lunchtime as Storm Franklin hits the UK.

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In a statement on social media, GWR said: "Work continues to clear debris from the tracks, and move trains and staff to where they need to be, to safely run our planned timetable.

"The extent of the work and the fact that hundreds of miles of track needs to be safety checked, means train services will continue to be significantly disrupted.

"Some trains have now started to run, however services remain significantly disrupted across the network. Because of this, we are continuing to ask customers to only travel if you need to."

Dane Panes, from GWR, says the team is working 'incredibly hard' to get services running again smoothly. Credit: ITV West Country

"We're sorry for the continued disruption to our services and our teams are working flat out to get trains running safely again as soon as possible."

Passengers at Bristol Parkway this morning were understanding of the ongoing situation.

One said: "Probably taken about an hour longer than what it should have done, but it is what is is and there's no point stressing about it."

GWR is urging people to work from home if possible to avoid travelling via rail. Credit: ITV West Country

Another added: "I don't actually know that we've had a great deal of disruption this morning, but what's noticeable is the trains are a lot busier."

People who have a pre-paid ticket, and have had their journey disrupted because of Storm Eunice, are able to use it until Wednesday evening.