With safety checks on most of Great Western Railway’s Intercity Express Trains complete, they will return to service on the Cotswold Line from Monday, May 17.
Trains will run through to and from London Paddington station as normal, but a modified timetable will be in operation, with fewer morning peak services towards Oxford and London.
- Details of the timetable for the coming week are now available in online journey planners, including gwr.com and National Rail. For the latest service updates and alterations, see the GWR Journeycheck page.
A shuttle service between Oxford and Worcester, worked by Turbo diesel units, will continue to operate on Sunday, May 16.
The Class 800 and Class 802 IETs used by GWR and similar Class 800, 801 and 802 sets operated by London & North Eastern Railway, TransPennine Express and Hull Trains were withdrawn from service on Saturday, May 7, when cracks were found on some sets around lifting point on the bodyshells. The discovery was made during inspections after cracks were first spotted in suspension damper mounts on a number of the Hitachi-built trains in late April.
A small number of the IETs have yet to be inspected, as they were stabled overnight on Friday, May 7, at locations including Hereford, Worcester and Oxford to work early mornng departures the next day. They were not moved back to Hitachi’s maintenance depots in London and Bristol until Saturday, May 15.
Work to repair the cracking is now being planned.