London Paddington, the third busiest railway station in Great Britain, will close to passengers for the entire weekend of Saturday, November 28, to Sunday, November 29, as part of a £27.8 million upgrade to Dolphin Junction in Slough.
Great Western Railway (GWR) confirmed the closure, which coincides with Black Friday weekend and international rugby at Twickenham Stadium, potentially causing major disruption for shoppers and sports fans travelling to the capital.
Service Changes and Alternatives
GWR warned that South Western Railway (SWR) services between London Waterloo and Windsor & Eton Riverside or Reading are expected to be extremely busy during the closure. All high speed services to and from Bristol and South Wales will instead go to London Euston, with trains bypassing Reading and Didcot Parkway.
Replacement bus services will operate between stations such as Ealing Broadway and Slough. The Night Riviera sleeper service will still run from London Paddington on the evening of Friday, November 27, but the service from Penzance will arrive into London Euston on Saturday morning instead. The sleeper will operate from London Euston on Sunday evening, with the return service from Penzance arriving into London Paddington on Monday, November 30.
Passengers travelling between Reading and London can use GWR services to Guildford, where they can change for trains to and from London Waterloo. Additional GWR trains will run non-stop between Reading and Guildford, completing the journey in around 30 minutes. A queuing system will be in place at Reading station for GWR trains to Guildford and Gatwick Airport or SWR trains to Twickenham and London Waterloo.
Impact on Other Services
Heathrow Express trains and the Elizabeth line will also not be operating from London Paddington during the weekend. The Elizabeth Line will operate a reduced service between Reading and Maidenhead only. According to GWR, only Bakerloo line services will be stopping at Paddington during this period.
The closure is due to a £27.8 million upgrade to Dolphin Junction in Slough, where around 400 passenger trains carrying more than 100,000 passengers pass through daily, making it one of the busiest pieces of railway infrastructure on the Great Western Main Line. The works include replacing ageing points, improving the track layout and upgrading overhead line equipment.
Christmas Closure and Full Resumption
The main phase of work will take place between Christmas and New Year, with the station closing from Christmas Day and services expected to resume from New Year's Eve. However, due to the scale of work at Dolphin Junction, GWR services won't access Paddington until Monday, January 4. The Elizabeth Line and Heathrow Express will resume to and from Paddington from New Year's Eve.
Ross Mahoney, project director for Network Rail's Great Western route, said: "Dolphin Junction is one of the busiest and most important parts of the Great Western Main Line, carrying thousands of passengers every day between London, the Thames Valley, the South West and Wales."
"This investment will replace ageing equipment with modern technology and improve the track layout, helping trains move through the junction more smoothly and efficiently. This will mean less congestion and more reliable journeys for passengers across the route," Mahoney added.
"We've worked closely with train operators to keep people moving throughout these closures, but there will be changes to services while the work is carried out. Passengers travelling over the weekend of 28 and 29 November and during the Christmas and New Year period should plan ahead and check before they travel," he said.
"We know this work will cause disruption in the short term, and we'd like to thank passengers and freight customers for their patience. Once complete, these upgrades will help create a more dependable railway, supporting better performance and smoother journeys for years to come," Mahoney concluded.
