The soaring temperatures have caused delays and cancellations for the train network across the UK today. Most railway operators are advising people not to travel unless absolutely necessary.
Others have a 'do not travel' policy in place and alternative transport won't be made available for people whose trains are cancelled. The hot weather can affect "the rails, overhead power lines and the ground which the track sits on," Network Rail explains.
As a result, they have imposed temporary speed restrictions to reduce the risk of damage to the railway and keep services running. National Rail advises: "Please check before you travel and allow more time for your journey on the affected days, as speed restrictions can cause train delays and cancellations.
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"If you are travelling by train in hot weather please carry water with you, to avoid dehydration. Please don’t travel by train if you feel unwell. If you are travelling and begin to feel unwell please get off at the next stop where a member of staff will be able to assist you."
Here is a full list of the train journeys cancelled or affected by today's extreme weather up and down the UK...
Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern, and Thameslink
The rail firms advise "do not use our trains to go to the beach."
They say not travel on routes to the north of London as there will be no trains between:
- Bedford and London via St Albans
- Peterborough and London Kings Cross / London St Pancras International
- Kings Lynn, Cambridge and London Kings Cross / London St Pancras International
- Welwyn Garden City and Moorgate (Great Northern Metro)
- Stevenage and Moorgate (Great Northern Metro)
Southeastern
Train services are being disrupted and amended on the following routes:
- Bexleyheath Line : No evening services to and from London Cannon Street
- Woolwich Line : Fewer services between London Cannon Street and Slade Green via Woolwich
- Bromley South Line : A reduced service will operate between Victoria and Bromley South
- Hayes, Grove Park & Sidcup lines : A small number of services to and from London Cannon Street on these routes will be cancelled in the afternoon
TransPennine Express
The following services will not run today:
- Hull - Manchester Piccadilly
- Redcar Central - Manchester Airport
- Huddersfield - Leeds (local stopper service)
- Sheffield - Cleethorpes
- Stalybridge - Manchester Piccadilly
Cross Country
Some routes will not be served by CrossCountry and a reduced service will operate across the rest of the network. Services will be split into regions, and you may need to change at Birmingham New Street to complete your journey.
- Birmingham New Street – Leicester / Cambridge / Stansted Airport - Hourly service will operate between Birmingham and Leicester, departing Birmingham at xx52 past each hour and departing Leicester at approximately xx18 past each hour.
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No CrossCountry service between Leicester - Cambridge - Stansted Airport on Monday and Tuesday as the line is closed. There are no alternatives on this route. Do not travel on these days.
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Birmingham New Street – Nottingham - Hourly service will operate, departing Birmingham at approximately xx19 past each hour and departing Nottingham at approximately xx41 past each hour.
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Birmingham New Street - Cardiff Central - No CrossCountry service runs between Cheltenham Spa and Gloucester. Due to planned engineering works, buses replace trains between Cheltenham Spa and Cardiff Central. The Birmingham - Bristol services will stop additionally at Worcestershire Parkway.
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Birmingham New Street – Manchester Piccadilly - From 11:00 – A two hourly service will operate between Birmingham and Manchester only.
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Birmingham New Street – Bournemouth -From 11:00 – A two hourly service will operate between Birmingham and Reading only. No CrossCountry service between Reading and Bournemouth.
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Birmingham New Street – Bristol / Plymouth / Penzance / Paignton - A split service will operate all day, with services running between Birmingham and Bristol Temple Meads and between Bristol Temple Meads and Plymouth. No CrossCountry service will operate between Newton Abbot and Paignton, and between Plymouth and Penzance. From 11:00 – A two hourly service will operate between Birmingham and Bristol. A limited service will operate between Bristol and Plymouth.
LNER
Do not travel on routes south of York and south of Leeds to London Kings Cross as no trains will run. This includes to and from Wakefield Westgate, Doncaster, Retford, Lincoln, Newark Northgate, Grantham, Peterborough and Stevenage.
ScotRail
Due to extreme heat ScotRail will implement speed restrictions across Scotland from 13:00 until 20:00 today. Delays of up to 20 minutes are expected across the network.
See here for any alterations which may take place.
East Midlands Rail
Customers are advised not to travel by rail today and no alternative transport will be provided for the services that are cancelled or altered. A speed limit of just 60 miles per hour will be in place between Sheffield, Nottingham and Bedford while speeds will be limited further to just 20 miles per hour between Bedford and London.
Trains will run from Sheffield / Nottingham to Leicester in both directions for the duration of the day. There will be no train service between Corby and London St Pancras International. No trains will run between Cleethorpes and Barton-on-Humber.
- Liverpool Lime Street/ Nottingham / Norwich services will only run between Manchester Piccadilly and Grantham
- Doncaster / Lincoln / Peterborough services will be cancelled
- Crewe / Nottingham / Newark Castle services will only run between Crewe and Nottingham
- Services to / from Matlock will run every 2 hours
- Nottingham / Mansfield / Worksop services will be reduced during peak hours
- No trains will run between Newark Northgate and Lincoln
- Services will run normally between Leicester / Lincoln / Grimsby and between Nottingham and Skegness
Chiltern Rails
Emergency speed restrictions will be in place for much of the day. Chiltern Rails will operate as follows:
- 1 train per hour London Marylebone - stations to Birmingham Moor Street (and vice-versa)
- 1 train per hour London Marylebone - stations to Oxford (and vice-versa)
- 1 train per hour London Marylebone - stations to Aylesbury (via High Wycombe, and vice-versa)
- 1 train per hour Aylesbury Vale Parkway - Amersham (and vice-versa)
- No Chiltern Railways service to / from Stratford-upon-Avon
Lumo
Lumo will only run between Edinburgh and Newcastle in both directions, calling at Morpeth.
Hull Trains
Network Rail will close the East Coast Main Line from 12:00 until 20:00 today between London Kings Cross and York, this will affect Grantham, Retford and Doncaster for Hull Trains.
At the request of Network Rail, Hull Trains will NOT be running any services to / from London Kings Cross today. Services between Hull and Doncaster will be diverted and will not call at Howden and Selby. This is the planned reduced timetable.
Hull Trains are unable to provide alternative transport to or from any of the stations that will not be served. Passengers with Hull Trains tickets dated 18 - 19 July are advised to complete their journeys by Friday 22 July.
Northern
- Services between Manchester Piccadilly and Glossop have been suspended. There is a do not travel policy in place and road transport will not be provided.
- Services between Manchester Piccadilly and Crewe via Stockport - there is a do not travel policy in place and road transport will not be provided.
- Services between Crewe and Liverpool Lime Street - trains will terminate and start at Manchester Airport. Trains are able to run between Manchester Airport and Liverpool Lime Street .
- Services between Southport and Alderley Edge - trains will terminate and start at Manchester Oxford Road. Trains are able to run between Manchester Oxford Road and Southport .
Grand Central
Due to forecast severe weather today, there will be no Grand Central services running today.
South Western Railway
- Clapham Junction - London Waterloo : A safety inspection of the track between Clapham Junction and London Waterloo is resulting in some lines being blocked. Trains may be delayed by up to 5 minutes or revised to not call at Queenstown Road Battersea, this is expected until the end of the day on 21 July. If you're travelling to Queenstown Road Battersea on London bound trains, you will need to remain on the train and change at Vauxhall for a service back to Queenstown Road Battersea.
- Brockenhurst - A points failure at Brockenhurst means trains have to run at a reduced speed through this station, trains may be delayed by up to 10 minutes.
Great Western Railway
Most early morning and late night services will operate as planned, a revised timetable will be in place between 09:00-21:00, where services do run, journey times will be longer due to the heat related speed restrictions in place:
High-speed services:
- Hourly service between London Paddington - Bristol Temple Meads / Cardiff Central / Swansea
- London Paddington - Plymouth/Penzance services that normally operate non-stop between Taunton and Reading will be diverted and call additionally at Bristol Temple Meads
- London Paddington - Exeter St Davids/Plymouth via Newbury/Westbury/Castle Cary will operate as planned
- Hourly service between London Paddington - Oxford with connecting services operating between Oxford - Worcester - Great Malvern
- London Paddington - Cheltenham Spa services operate between Swindon and Cheltenham Spa only - customers should change at Swindon if travelling to/from Reading and London Paddington.
London Thames Valley:
- Hourly service between London Paddington - Didcot Parkway
- Hourly service between Reading - Redhill, no GWR services between Redhill - Gatwick Airport . Customers should use other operators to complete their journey.
Services on the following routes are expected to operate as planned, however journey times will take longer than advertised:
- Didcot Parkway - Oxford
- London Paddington - Newbury
- Newbury - Bedwyn
- Reading - Basingstoke
- Twyford - Henley-on-Thames
- Maidenhead - Marlow
- Slough - Windsor & Eton Central
- West Ealing - Greenford
West:
- Great Malvern/Gloucester - Weymouth services start/terminate at Westbury. Customers should change at Westbury where a reduced shuttle service will run between Westbury - Weymouth
- Services between Cardiff Central - Portsmouth Harbour will start/terminate at Bristol Temple Meads, not calling at Filton Abbey Wood, Newport or Cardiff Central. Customers should change at Bristol Temple Meads for onward connections to/from South Wales.
- Services in Cornwall, Devon and the local Bristol area are expected to operate as planned, however journey times will take longer than advertised.
Avanti West Coast
A shortage of train crew and forecasted extreme weather means an amended timetable will operate until the end of today.
- Crewe - Stockport - A fault with the signalling system between Crewe and Stockport means all lines are currently blocked. Trains will be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or diverted not serving Wilmslow. This is expected until the end of the day.
Transport for Wales
- Borth - Aberystwyth - A speed restriction over defective track between Borth and Aberystwyth means trains may be delayed by up to 20 minutes.
Due to the red weather warnings, Transport for Wales services on the following routes will be cancelled:
- Shrewsbury - Crewe (local shuttles only affected)
- Shrewsbury - Birmingham
- Conwy Valley line
- Chester - Liverpool
- Chester - Manchester
- Newport - Cross Keys
- City Line (Tuesday only) Cardiff Central - Radyr via Danescourt. You can use Cardiff Buses.
London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway
The below timetable information is correct at time of publishing; however, work is ongoing with Network Rail to establish the level of service that can run, and services may be subject to further alteration. Please continue to check back here for the latest information:
- Cross City line : amendments will be in place and fewer trains will be running
- Rugeley Trent Valley – Birmingham International : Services will run between Rugeley – Birmingham New Street only
- Birmingham New Street – Liverpool Lime Street: Services will be running between Crewe – Liverpool Lime Street only (Birmingham – Crewe via Stoke-on-Trent services will be running as normal)
- Birmingham New Street – Northampton via Coventry : 1 train per hour will be running (calling at all stations)
- Nuneaton – Leamington Spa via Coventry : No service
- Shrewsbury – Birmingham New Street : Services are planned to run as normal, however services are likely to be running between Shrewsbury – Wolverhampton only
- Hereford - Birmingham New Street : Services are planned to run as normal, but there may be on the day alterations
- Snow Hill lines: Services are planned to run as normal, but there may be on the day alterations
Timetables for other routes are currently planned to run as normal but may be subject to on the day alterations.
c2c
Extremely high temperatures affecting the UK today mean a reduced service will be operating on the whole of the c2c network.
London Overground
London Overground will be operating a reduced timetable across most routes, with the exception of the East London Line routes operating between West Croydon / Crystal Palace / Clapham Junction– Highbury & Islington.
Customers are advised to expect widespread disruption and short notice alterations and cancellations throughout the two days. The following changes will be made to the London Overground train service on Tuesday 19 July:
- 50% reduction in services between Watford Junction and Euston , leaving a 2 trains per hour service with extended journey times
- 40% reduction in services between Chingford/Enfield Town/Cheshunt and London Liverpool Street
- 50% reduction in services between Stratford and Willesden Junction leaving a 4-5 trains per hour Stratford to Clapham Junction service
- No service between Richmond and Willesden Junction
- No service on the Romford – Upminster line
Elizabeth Line
Services will run as follows:
- 6 trains will run per hour between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield
- 2 trains will run per hour between London Paddington and Reading
- 4 trains will run per hour between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport
Severe weather between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield, and also between London Paddington and Reading means trains will run at a reduced speed. Delays of up to 15 minutes may occur.
Mersey Rail
The following changes will be in place from the start to end of services on Tuesday 19 July, but a return to normal timetable on all lines are expected from Wednesday 20 July
- New Brighton and West Kirby lines – Services will only run between Birkenhead North and Liverpool city centre with a 15-minute frequency. No rail replacement buses will run.
- Chester and Ellesmere Port lines – Services will only run between Rock Ferry and Liverpool city centre again with a 15-minute frequency. No rail replacement buses will run.
- Kirkby line – Due to multiple heat related track failures on the Kirkby line no trains will run. No rail replacement buses will run.
- Southport line - A 15-minute service will operate on the Southport to Hunts Cross line. There will be a limited service at Bank Hall, Hightown, Hall Road and Hillside stations which will have a 30-minute service, departure times are available below.
- Hunts Cross line - All trains will start and terminate at Liverpool South Parkway. Rail replacement buses will continue to run between Liverpool South Parkway and Hunts Cross stations.
- Ormskirk line – The normal timetable will run.
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