Great Western Coffee Shop

Owing to vandalism between Bristol Temple Meads and Taunton all lines are blocked.

Impact:

Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 40 mins or revised at short notice.

An estimate for the resumption of normal services will be provided as soon as the problem has been fully assessed.

Customer Advice:

Replacement road transport services are conveying passengers between Weston-Super-Mare and Bristol Temple Meads in both directions until further notice.

Message Received :22/05/2012 07:19

A signalling problem caused by vandalism is disrupting trains at Nailsea & Backwell.

Because of this, the following changes will apply until further notice:

- Buses are replacing trains between Weston-super-Mare and Bristol Temple Meads

- A train service is running between Weston-super-Mare and Taunton

- CrossCountry services will be diverted between Taunton and Bristol Temple Meads via Westbury where possible.
   
- Journey times will be extended by up to 45 minutes

After 08:00 it is hoped that a limited train service will be able to run between Taunton and Bristol Temple Meads via Nailsea & Backwell.

Line problem: between Bristol Temple Meads and Taunton
Owing to vandalism between Bristol Temple Meads and Taunton fewer trains are able to run on all lines.

Train services running through these stations are returning to normal but some services may still be delayed by up to 20 mins at short notice. Disruption is expected until 23:40 22/05.

Cross Country services are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice. Arrangements have been made for First Great Western rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys. First Great Western also is accepting CrossCountry tickets via any reasonable route.
Local bus services are conveying passengers between Bristol Temple Meads and Bedminster in both directions until further notice. Arrangements have been made for First Great Western rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys. First Great Western tickets are being accepted until further notice on First Bus between Bedminster Parade and Bristol Bus Station on routes 75, 76 and 90 and also between Bristol Bus Station and Bristol Temple Meads on routes 8 and 9.
Please visit http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/bristol_bath/
Bristol Airport Flyer buses that operate between Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Airport is accepting First Great Western tickets until further notice calling additionally at Bedminster. For timetable information please visit:
http://flyer.bristolairport.co.uk/timetable_to_bia_mon_fri.php.
Replacement road transport services are conveying passengers between Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-Super-Mare in both directions until further notice.
 
Additional Information:
Network Rail have advised First Great Western disruption is expected to continue until the end of today (Tuesday 22 May) whilst work is carried out to repair damaged signalling equipment in the Parson Street area between Bristol Temple Meads and Taunton.

Message Received: 22/05/2012 23:25

British Transport Police appeal for information after damage caused to railway signalling cable - Bristol

British Transport Police (BTP) officers are appealing for information after railway signalling cable was damaged in the Bedminster Down and Patchway areas of Bristol on Tuesday, 22 May 2012.

Initial investigations reveal the signalling cable appears to have been deliberately set alight and officers are now appealing for the public^s help to find those responsible.

BTP officers were called to the railway line near to Shepton Walk, Bedminster, Bristol, on Tuesday, 22 May after a report of a small fire close to the line.

The fire was reported by the driver of a passing train at about 4.15am.

Network Rail engineers also attended the scene and extinguished the fire prior to officers arriving at the scene.

The incident caused delays and disruptions to passengers and the rail industry.

At 11.37am on Tuesday 22, May, Network Rail staff reported signalling cable near to Patchway railway station also appeared to have been deliberately set alight, although the fire had extinguished itself before engineers arrived.

Detective Chief Inspector John Pyke said: ^A BTP investigation is under way to establish who is responsible for these attacks, which we believe were deliberate and could have put innocent passengers and rail staff at serious risk. This was completely irresponsible behaviour and we will do everything possible to trace those responsible and bring them to justice.

^We are aware of a statement posted on the Internet in which a group is claiming responsibility for these incidents. At the moment, this is one of a number of lines of enquiry officers are investigating.

^In the meantime, I would urge anyone who knows the identity of those responsible, or who has any information which they believe could assist the investigation, to contact British Transport Police in complete confidence.^

If you have any information which can assist, please call British Transport Police on Freefone 0800 40 50 40, or the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.  In all calls, please quote incident reference number B7/WWA of 25/05/2012.