Major disruption as no trains between Oxford / Didcot Parkway and Reading
Disruption is expected until at least the end of the day
Last updated 23rd Sep 2026
There are no trains between Oxford / Didcot Parkway and Reading this morning (Wednesday 23 September 2026).
It is due to a gas leak near the railway in the Didcot Parkway area.
The leak has closed all lines running between Didcot Parkway and Reading, with major disruption expected until at least the end of the day.
Route(s) affected:
- CrossCountry between Newcastle / York / Manchester Piccadilly and Reading, between Manchester Piccadilly and Southampton Central / Bournemouth, and also between Birmingham New Street and Bournemouth
- Great Western Railway between Penzance / Exeter St Davids / Carmarthen / Swansea / Cardiff Central / Hereford / Great Malvern / Worcester Foregate Street / Worcester Shrub Hill / Cheltenham Spa / Weston-super-Mare / Bristol Temple Meads / Banbury / Oxford / Dicot Parkway and London Paddington, and also between Didcot Parkway and Reading
National Highways said, as a result of this, trains are unable to operate between these stations and will either be cancelled in full, or revised to only operate for part of their normal route.
Staff are on site working to assess the severity of the issue and formulate a plan for the necessary repair work.
There are replacement coaches and buses, so check before you travel.
An SGN spokesperson said:
"We are responding to an incident in the Ladygrove area of Didcot, following damage to our network caused by a third party. For safety reasons, it has been necessary to implement an exclusion zone around the location of the incident.
"Our engineers worked throughout the night and remain on site this morning, as we make the necessary repairs to our network as quickly as possible.
"We are working collaboratively with local partners and Network Rail to minimise local disruption.
"We are sorry for the inconvenience caused while this essential emergency work is undertaken."