Passengers have been warned by a rail operator to ‘only travel if necessary’ as issues with power cable damage continues to cause ‘significant’ disruption.

Yesterday, mourners heading to the capital for the Queen’s funeral were faced with rail chaos as trains between Reading and London were cancelled, with many passengers were reportedly left stranded.

Network Rail confirmed this morning that the overheard wires were pulled down at Hayes & Harlington station.

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While engineering staff worked throughout the night to restore the cables, passengers still face huge delays today.

Great Western Railway (GWR) has said there will be no GWR services to or from London Paddington until at least 9.30am.

Long distance high speed services will start and terminate at Reading instead.

Customers wishing to travel between London and Reading are advised to travel via Reading and London Waterloo on South Western Railway services.

Customers can also use Chiltern Railways services between Oxford and London Marylebone.

A limited GWR shuttle service will operate between Reading and Slough, calling at Twyford & Maidenhead.

A spokesperson for GWR said: “We sincerely apologise for the significant disruption caused by this substantial de-wirement.”

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Read more from this author

This story was written by Sophie Perry. She joined the team in 2021 as a digital reporter.

You can get in touch with her by emailing: sophie.perry@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @itssophieperry

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