GWR warns of disruption as parts of the South West to be totally cut off by rail strikes

Rail services are expected to the 'severely' affected by industrial action Credit: PA

Train journeys across the South West are being 'severely affected' by the rail worker strikes, with some parts of the region completely cut off.

Great Western Railway (GWR) is urging people to only travel if necessary and to expect serious disruption, with a 'significantly' reduced timetable. It is also expected to have a big impact on those heading to Glastonbury.

The strikes will run on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with an extremely limited service operating between 7.30am and 6.30pm. On non-strike days, no services will run before 7am.

A statement on Great Western Rail's website reads: "Where we are unable to run services, we are expected to be extremely busy. We are not able to provide bus replacement services."

Some parts of the South West will not see any rail services operate during the strike days, leaving large parts of the region without any train journeys.

  • Watch West Country commuters share their views on the strikes

Which routes will not operate during the strike?

The following GWR routes will have no rail services on 21, 23 and 25 June:

  • All lines in Cornwall, including all branch lines

  • All branch lines in Devon (Barnstaple, Exmouth, Paignton, Okehampton)

  • South Wales main line (Carmarthen/Swansea – Cardiff Central)

  • Heart of Wessex line (Castle Cary – Weymouth)

  • Severn Beach line (Bristol Temple Meads – Severn Beach)

  • North Cotswolds line (Hereford/Worcester – Oxford)

  • South Cotswolds line (Cheltenham – Swindon)

  • Worcester/Gloucester – Bristol

  • Kennet Valley (Reading – Pewsey)

  • North Downs line (Reading – Gatwick Airport)

  • South Coast (Westbury – Southampton/Portsmouth Harbour)

  • Greenford branch line (Saturday 25 June only)

There will be an extremely limited service on other routes.

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What happens on non-strike days?

On the days when strike action is not taking place (22, 25 and 27 June), Great Western Rail says it expects to operate a reduced service. Some routes will still have a very limited or non-existent service on these days.

Trains will not be running between St James Park in Exeter and Axminster on non-strike days.

Some other routes will have trains running from 7am, but less than once an hour. These include:

  • Westbury to Weymouth

  • Par to Newquay

  • Plymouth to Gunnislake

  • Taunton to Plymouth

Why are the strikes taking place?

The strikes have come about because of growing rows over pay and job losses.

The RMT said rail staff who worked through the pandemic were facing pay freezes and hundreds of job cuts - leading to union members voting overwhelmingly for action last month.

Brendan Kelly, a Regional Organiser for RMT said: "Whenever a national strike of this nature takes place it will impact on events in society. That's unavoidable I think.

"You could pick any week in the year probably you'd have other events that were going to be scheduled for that week. So it's not targeting, it's not a particular reason.

"We have a mandate. We did go into negotiations to see if there was a way forward. Those have not been successful sadly. The industry have not come forward with anything favourable really."

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