Chaos on the rails! Furious commuters blast train companies as they battle delays, packed carriages and cancellations on the first day of sweeping new timetable that promised faster and more frequent services
- Passengers face signalling problems, a landslip and ongoing industrial action
- Staff shortages also hit early-morning trains operated by Northern Rail today
- Great Western Railway trains delayed due to signalling fault at Maidenhead
- Travellers on South Western Railway continue to face problems due to strike
Rail commuters suffered cancellations and delays on the first weekday of the new winter timetable today.
Staff shortages, signalling problems, a landslip and ongoing industrial action were among the issues affecting the network this morning.
Some early-morning trains operated by Northern Rail were cancelled due to a shortage of drivers.
Sarah Evans from Cardiff was upset with the new Transport for Wales services, saying: ‘Great new timetable change with the 7.24am from Pontypridd. Reduce four carriages down to two. This was the only train that wasn’t standing room only in the morning from Ponty. Now this’
Great Western Railway commuter Bruce Melizan said there was ‘barely any standing room on the 6.48am from Twyford’, adding: ‘Train also late and arrived on the wrong platform’
Commuter Rich Swales posted this picture at Leeds train station, tweeting Northern Rail to say the ‘new timetable schedule is working just fine’
Ruth Starling tweeted to Great Western Railway: ‘New timetable working well. Half the trains from Swindon running late and standing room only from Reading’
Another commuter posted this image of a cancellation on a Great Western Railway train to London Paddington this morning, saying: ‘Timetable is off to an amazing start already’
The operator’s website listed the issue as affecting a number of services, including between Blackpool North and Manchester Airport, Leeds to York and Sheffield, and Darlington to Saltburn.
As of 8am today, the Transpennine Express had 24 cancellations listed for throughout the day due to a shortage of crew or train faults.
Affected services included those linking Manchester Airport with Edinburgh and Newcastle, and trains from Liverpool Lime Street to Scarborough.
Passengers on Great Western Railway were being warned to expect cancellations, delays and fewer trains between Reading and London Paddington due to a fault with the signalling system at Maidenhead.
Lindsay Robertson from Dunfermline tweeted this picture of delays on a departure board at Rosyth station in Scotland this morning, saying: ‘New timetable, same problems, ScotRail’
HR worker Sandeep is unimpressed by the Great Western Railway service this morning
Due to strike action by the RMT union, travellers on South Western Railway (SWR) have been warned of fewer trains, earlier finishes and some replacement buses throughout December.
Services are expected to be affected every day until January 2.
Elsewhere on the SWR network, a landslip between Epsom in Surrey and Motspur Park in south-west London left all lines between the two stations blocked.
The disruption was expected to last until the end of the day, with services being altered and replacement buses running.
Industry groups had previously promised more services, shorter journeys and new routes becoming possible across the country under the new timetable.
These would include the first non-stop trains between London and Bristol in decades, plus 1,000 extra services each week, according to the Rail Delivery Group (RDG).
RDG said the industry had put “years of work into drafting, consulting and planning” for the changes.
But teething problems were evident when the new timetable came into effect on Sunday, with Great Western Railway and Transport for Wales reporting a slew of cancellations and delays.
Train timetables are changed twice a year, in May and December.
The infamous botched change of May 2018 led to chaos, and passenger watchdog Transport Focus said travellers would be hoping for a smoother introduction with the latest changes.