Rail services on Great Western Railway (GWR) and London North Eastern Railway (LNER) are being disrupted for a third day due to cracks in trains.
GWR advised passengers with tickets for long-distance journeys on Monday “not to travel” as there is “no service or an extremely limited service” between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads, Swansea, Penzance, Hereford and Cheltenham Spa.
LNER is running a reduced service on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh via Peterborough, York and Newcastle.
The operators’ Hitachi Class 800 trains were withdrawn from service on Saturday for safety checks after cracks were discovered in part of the chassis of some trains.
A GWR spokesperson said on Saturday: "A number of Class 800 series Hitachi trains from several train companies have been taken out of service today for checks as a precautionary measure.
"This problem is being investigated by Hitachi and once trains have been checked, we hope to be able to release them back into service as soon as possible."
They added: "Customers are advised not to travel. Refunds will be provided."
GWR is investing more than £75bn in electrifying the line from London to Newbury and Cardiff, and making improvements to stations and tracks.
In February, the train operator's boss, Mark Hopwood, called for electrification of the South Wales mainline to reach Swansea.
Electrification of around 60 miles of track from Cardiff to Swansea was shelved by then UK Government Transport Secretary Chris Grayling back in 2017 on cost grounds.
In 2019, GWR launched a non-stop super-fast route from Bristol to London. The changes were the biggest to the network timetable since 1976.
