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Elizabeth Line and Heathrow Express Disruption this week, to 15 September

Posted by (Lake District, England ) on

On Saturday there was a grass fire next to the Great Western Main Line which got out of control, and melted power supply and signalling cables next to the track.

At one stage a Heathrow Express train lost power and a train to train evacuation was required, onto a diesel train. That is very unusual, showing the severity of the incident.

While the cabling is required and until further notice, Heathrow Express is reduced to an every 30 minute service, the Elizabeth Line to Heathrow and Reading is subject to delays and short notice cancellations (no Elizabeth Line service to Terminal 5), and some GWR services (notably the stoppers from Paddington to Newbury and Didcot Parkway) will run short to and from Reading only.

All long distance trains will have to run on diesel power, not electric between Reading and Paddington.

Note that the TfL disruptions page is NOT up to date on this matter, and HEx have rather buried the cancellation information on their website.

This is quite extensive work.

Posted by
37197 posts

are you saying that the entire Elizabeth Line is disrupted, or ony west of Paddington?

Posted by
12392 posts

Currently the Shenfield to Heathrow Terminal 5 trains are running between Shenfield and Liverpool Street High Level/main line only, so the service between Liverpool Street and Heathrow through the central core is thinned out.
They are using what I call the C2C platforms at Liverpool Street (the very high numbered ones at far right of the station) from when all C2C after 10pm ran to Liverpool Street (not Fenchurch Street), and are still used by them on a Saturday and Sunday, most weeks.

Change at Whitechapel onto Abbey Wood trains to/from points further west.

Services which are running to/from Heathrow are running on the whole route with delays up to 20 minutes due to general congestion.

I've seen photos of the damage, and it is bad. Wires have melted and fused together, so repairs will take as long as they take, not a quick fix.

Apparently what electricity there is for the trains has been re-directed from other sub stations hence why GWR have to run on diesel.

The TfL disruptions page remains out of date, although the journey planner should be correct.

Mid morning the whole route to Reading was closed entirely for an hour or so after a bridge strike in the Slough area added to the woes.

Due to the Reading turnbacks on GWR they are unable to serve Slough, Maidenhead and Twyford- use Elizabeth line services. Passengers to or from those stations are allowed to route via a turnback at Reading, if faster.

Paper Elizabeth line tickets (not Oyster or contactless) are being accepted on HeX.

There is also ticket acceptance on many local bus routes, the Greenline 702 service, any reasonable tube route and on the Waterloo to Reading via Ascot route- https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service-disruptions/kensal-green-20260906/

Posted by
12392 posts

UPDATE- Disruption continues at least to the end of 15 September - so for a further week.

GWR no change on their reduced service., other than some extra stops at Slough, Maidenhead and Twyford.
Heathrow Express- remains half hourly
Elizabeth Line- 2 trains per hour between Terminal 5 and Paddington, 2 trains per hour between Terminal 4 and Paddington, 2 trains an hour between Reading and Abbey Wood.
All Heathrow trains are terminating/starting from Platforms 2 to 4 in Paddington MAIN LINE station (not the Elizabeth Line platforms), for cross London services change at Ealing Broadway into Reading trains or the tube.
All other trains from Abbey Wood and all trains from Shenfield are terminating at the Elizabeth line platforms at Paddington.

Neither the national rail or the TfL disruptions pages are giving the correct service pattern.

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