Great Western Railway: Broken rail disrupts trains in west London

Trains running between London Paddington and Reading are expected to be disrupted until the end of the day after a broken rail was found in west London.

A defect was found on Wednesday in the Hayes & Harlington area where trains transfer from one track to another.

It is the fourth damaged rail on the Great Western line within eight days.

Network Rail said it "proactively" inspected all of its track assets and safety was its "highest priority".

Great Western Railway (GWR) said it had reduced the number of trains running in the area, with some services cancelled, delayed or revised.

Routes affected include the Elizabeth line between Abbey Wood and Maidenhead, Reading and Heathrow Terminal 4, and GWR's route between London Paddington and Didcot Parkway.

In the last eight days, damaged rails have been found in Slough, Bourton, near Swindon, and Iver in Buckinghamshire.

GWR said these rails had since been repaired.

Network Rail said the route between London Paddington and Didcot Parkway was one of the busiest railway corridors in the country following the opening of the Elizabeth line.

"Monitoring and maintaining this busy railway is a huge undertaking and safety is always our highest priority," a spokesperson said.

"We proactively inspect all our track assets - with our measuring train scanning the track every month and teams going out to all key assets to inspect at least every 14 days."

Customers using the Elizabeth line have been warned that on Wednesday a reduced service is operating between Hayes & Harlington and Maidenhead.

Reading services will additionally be calling at Iver in both directions.

GWR said local train services between London Paddington and Newbury will only operate between Reading and Newbury, in both directions.

Customers travelling between Newbury, Thatcham and Theale and London Paddington will likely need to change trains at Reading.

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