RAIL passengers travelling to London are being told to brace themselves for a number of disruptions in the coming weeks – with delays set to add an extra hour onto journeys into the capital.

London Paddington is set to close to all trains for six days starting on Christmas Eve while electrification work over the next few weekends means Swindon passengers will need to take a 45-minute bus journey to Reading in order to travel to London by train the rest of the way.

Electrification work started last weekend with services between Didcot Parkway and Swindon affected and it is scheduled that the work, which is paving way for new electric trains, is likely to affect passengers this weekend as well as those travelling on November 12-13 and November 19-20.

It is hoped that the multi-billion pound project, which is part of the Greater West Programme, will transform the mainline from London Paddington to Swansea to bring Brunel’s railway into the 21st century – paving way for new high-speed services.

Network Rail say they’ve scheduled the work to coincide with holidays and weekends as they experience 50 per cent fewer passengers during this time as opposed to weekdays.

Phil Hufton, Network Rail England & Wales managing director, said: “This Christmas will see significant investment in our railway with thousands of Network Rail’s orange army working hard to deliver hundreds of crucial projects to improve Britain’s railways.

"This will mean changes to services over the festive period, so we strongly advise passengers to plan their journeys as early as possible.

“Despite our essential upgrades the vast majority of the rail network, more than 90 per cent, remains unaffected and will be open for business as usual. There’s never a good time to impact on journeys and I’d like to thank passengers in advance for their patience.”

With the London Paddington closure, which runs from December 24-29, Great Western Railway have said all their trains will start and finish at Ealing Broadway, which allows people onward travel via London Underground.

A spokesman said both the Paddington closure and electrification work will result in better transport links for passengers.

They added: “We would like to thank passengers in advance for their patience and understanding during this modernisation work.

“The new electric trains will provide passengers with more seats, more frequent services and with the completion of electrification faster journeys; and a step change in customer experience.”

GWR have recommended that people plan their journeys using the National Rail enquiries website at www.networkrail.co.uk