PASSENGERS hoping to travel by train this weekend will be disappointed as many services will be replaced by buses.

Network Rail will be carrying out extensive works around the Swindon area and beyond on Sunday - with various sections of the railway closed to trains entirely while this work is carried out.

As a result of this, Great Western Railway will not be operating trains west between Swindon and Bristol Parkway or east between Swindon and Reading at all on Sunday. These will instead be replaced by bus services.

Passengers travelling east to London will have to catch a bus from Swindon railway station and change at Reading where they will be able to board a train for the remainder of their journey. Buses will be running roughly every 40 minutes in this direction.

Buses will also be operating on routes west between Swindon and Bristol Parkway and beyond to Newport while work is carried out on the Severn Tunnel.

Passengers travelling from Swindon to Parkway can either catch a train to Bristol Temple Meads and change there onto another service north to Parkway taking around 50 minutes, or catch a direct rail replacement bus service from Swindon to Parkway with a journey time of an hour. Buses will depart from Swindon railway station heading west on the hour.

GWR has advices that seat reservations will not be available on most routes.

A spokesman for the train operator said: “To enable Network Rail to achieve a key milestone towards the introduction of our new Intercity Express Trains, our network will be subject to significant alterations. We thank you for your patience while our network is upgraded.”

Trains will still run from Swindon to Cheltenham Spa and Swindon to Bristol Temple Meads, Bath and Chippenham as normal as these lines are not affected by the engineering work.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “The work forms a vital part of our Railway Upgrade Plan as we prepare the Great Western mainline for electrification.

“We will be testing the wires and overhead equipment that allows for electric trains to run. Once complete the project will allow for a bigger, faster, greener and more reliable railway.”

The Railway Upgrade Plan is Network Rail’s £40bn spending plan for the nation’s rail network for the five-year period leading up to 31 March 2019.

The plan is designed to provide more capacity, relieve crowding and respond to tremendous growth the railways have seen – a doubling of passengers in the past 20 years.

The plan has been drawn up to deliver a bigger, better railway with more trains, longer trains, faster trains with more reliable infrastructure and better facilities for passengers, especially at stations.

Passengers planning to travel this weekend are being urged to check train times at the GWR website before departing or to call National Rail Enquiries on 03457 484950.

Sunday’s day of engineering work is a taste of things to come, with “significant work” due to be carried out in the Didcot and Swindon area on weekends between October 22 and November 13, although details of this programme of work have not yet been released.