Staff shortages lead to timetable changes for the south's rail operators
The pandemic is having an impact on rail services
Train services are being affected by staff absences due to Covid-19 with rail operators South Western Railway and Great Western Railway altering timetables.
A temporary reduced timetable for Great Western Railway comes into effect from Saturday 8th January.
The reduced timetable will be updated on a weekly basis and is only expected to be in operation for a short time – until the impact of the Omicron variant has lessened.
GWR Managing Director Mark Hopwood said:
“We are taking some sensible measures using the experience, knowledge and good processes we have developed over the past 20 months to give customers confidence in our timetable.
“In the past few weeks we have already taken steps to maintain service levels across the network, including cancelling all non-safety critical staff training.
“Like many other businesses we are expecting prolonged periods of staff absence due to Covid to continue in the coming weeks and the objective of this temporary timetable is to provide a service that can be relied on, reducing the potential for ad hoc short-notice cancellations.
“This means reducing our timetable a little to shore up the large number of services we continue to operate. We have prioritised high-use school, college and other known key worker services and we very much hope that the changes will only be needed for a short period.
“We will be reviewing the need for temporary changes weekly and will update journey planners and our website gwr.com with details of any changes needed for the week ahead.
“As always our advice to customers is please check your journey before you leave home at journeycheck.com/greatwesternrailway.”
Services between London Paddington, Bristol Temple Meads and South Wales will run to an hourly frequency at weekends as a result of pre-planned engineering works. A slightly reduced service will operate from Monday to Friday.
There are also some reductions to long-distance services on other routes on the network.
Meanwhile South Western Railway is also dealing with a 'significant impact' on services due to staff shortages.
From Monday 17th January a new 'consolidated timetable' will be introduced.
The company says its focus is "on producing a timetable that is deliverable, so that we improve reliability for our customers, and caters to key workers, school pupils and those who cannot work from home."
Details of the timetable will be published on the SWR website.
Meanwhile the rail industry’s Book with Confidence scheme has been extended until the end of March so that passengers can change their travel plans up to the evening before departure without being charged a fee, or if they choose not to travel are able to receive a refund on their unused ticket.
Those taking the train are advised to check their journey before leaving home.
Passengers are urged to wear a face covering, wash their hands more frequently and buy tickets online or via the relevant app.