GREAT Western Railway have confirmed that some services into South Wales are closed today, Saturday 21 October, with the flooding from yesterday, Friday 20 October, still impacting lines in the Swindon area.

An official announcement has said that all lines between Bristol Parkway/South Wales, Swindon and Bristol Temple Meads via Bath and Swindon are expected to be closed until around midday.

Travellers are being advised to check their journey before commuting as a revised timetable has been put in place in the interim, but as a result, the services which are able to operate are expected to be incredibly busy.

Transport for Wales has agreed to take Great Western Railway tickets for any passengers travelling between Newport and Gloucester, with CrossCountry taking passengers between Bristol Temple Meads and Cheltenham Spa until further notice.

A spokesperson for GWR said: “GWR services are being diverted via an alternative route between Bristol Temple Meads/Bath Spa and Reading/London Paddington, and South Wales trains are running to Bristol Temple Meads via Bristol Parkway.

“The route between Gloucester and Swindon is open and train services are operating; and services are operating between Swindon and London Paddington.”

Network Rail has said that any customers who are willing to delay their journey from Friday 20 October or Saturday 21 October will have a ticket valid for a journey tomorrow, Sunday 22 October.

Any customers who have tickets but do not travel will be able to either claim a full refund or amend their ticket, and those who travel but are delayed by 15 minutes or more may be entitled to Delay Repay compensation.

Some local bus companies have agreed to take on rail tickets during this time, and further details on which companies and services can be found here.

Passengers can check the Great Western Railway TrainTracker for live departure times and up to date journey information here.

The GWR spokesperson continued: “Network Rail teams across the network are working to minimise disruption. The severity of the flooding means many roads are blocked, and we are not able to provide alternative transport.

“We will be monitoring the situation with Network Rail and will keep you informed of any changes.”