COMMUTERS heading into London are worried they will face another “summer of pain” after Network Rail announced they will work on the electrification of the railway line next month.

Workers who commute into the capital from Chippenham are concerned that the planned works, which will take place from July 8 until July 16, will cause disruption and delays to their journeys regardless of whether they plan ahead.

During the works, two trains will run every hour to Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington; one calling at Reading, Didcot and Swindon via Chippenham and one calling at Reading and Bath Spa and buses will replace trains between Bath Spa and Swindon via Chippenham on July 8, July 9 and July 16.

Although two trains will run every hour between Bristol Temple Means and London Paddington during the weekday (July 10 to July 15), there will only be one train an hour between Bristol Temple Meads and Chippenham and buses will replace the Westbury services to Swindon. They will start and terminate at Chippenham, as well as the Bath Spa and Swindon line.

“They are taking a considerably long time to do this and there have been a number of weeks of delays and constant changes to services,” Will Guyatt, who works at LBC and regularly catches a train into London from Chippenham, said. “We have also had no real promises that these problems will be fixed. Everyone is assuming that the services will become reliable but I am yet to see any evidence of that.

“It has been awful for train commuters to London to the extent that I actually stopped doing it and changed jobs after more than ten years. I am still a regular commuter to London but this is going to be another summer of pain for travelers.”

Graham Ellis, of the TransWilts Group, said that he is concerned that there will be no trains between Chippenham and Swindon during the week but that Network Rail has planned for minimal disruption by doing this work at the start of the school holidays.

A spokesman for Great Western Railway, which operates on the TransWilts line, said: “We are just a matter of months away from the first Intercity Express Train entering passenger service on the line from London Paddington to Bristol; providing over a fifth more seats per train, more frequent services, and with the completion of electrification quicker journeys.

“The work over this coming week is a vital part of Network Rail’s upgrade plans, helping GWR to take full advantage of our new fleet and the greatest step-change in experience for our passengers in a generation.”

People living alongside the tracks have also been warned about disruption.