Great Western Coffee Shop

No GWR trains to / from Paddington on 24th and 27th December
No GWR trains anywhere on 25th and 26th December

Services limited from 28th December to 31st December, Reading to Paddington

And the extra trains promised by SWR between Reading and Waterloo could end up being fewer trains than normal due to the planned RMT strike.

Pretty much the same every year.

Apart from suggesting the obvious route on Christmas Eve (Tube to Waterloo, SWR to Reading, taking almost 120 minutes), the National Rail website lists this alternative, taking as long:

Tube to Marylebone; Chiltern Trains to High Wycombe; bus to Maidenhead; GWR to Reading, taking 120 minutes.

Wonder how many people will turn up at Paddington expecting to be in Reading within 30 minutes and be really upset at the delay?

For people wanting to get to Slough, the suggested journey is bizarre, in that the National Rail website says "TRANSFER" from Paddington to Hillingdon Tube Station, allowing an hour. It doesn't specify how this transfer is to be made, and there's just a cyclist icon under "Additional Information". I suppose that the inference is don't start your journey at Paddington but work out how best to get to Hillingdon. Then one takes a bus to Slough. But if one has cycled to Hillingdon, what does one do with one's bike?

Or am I missing something?

Marlburian

Quite a few I suspect. Who reads posters at stations or picks up a leaflet letting you know of alterations over the Christmas period? I know most on this forum probably do, but everyone else?

I think more and more people use journey planners now that should reflect the amended service of course.

I’m sure some will be caught out, just as there are every year she people wander down to their local station on Boxing Day!

The transfer to Hillingdon will be a rail replacement bus from Slough. The image below is from the last page of the December West of London Crossrail newsletter. (https://2577f60fe192df40d16a-ab656259048fb93837ecc0ecbcf0c557.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/assets/library/document/w/original/west_stations_newsletter_december_2019.pdf)

Having planned journeys on the National Rail Enquiries site in the past, I agree it is very vague when transferring between central London stations. It will say to get on the underground but not which line or where to change to another tube.