GWR have sent us the following announcement

We’re getting in touch as the new school year begins as our fleet of trains in Devon, including those which cover our heavily-used school services, is very stretched at the moment. 

 You may be aware that since the pandemic we have been operating under a National Rail Contract with the Department for Transport, this includes an annual business plan and managing with challenging budgets to reduce taxpayer subsidy. As a result we are having to manage with a smaller fleet than previously as a result of these cost savings, which has including removing a number of our Castle Class sets (the heaviest users of carbon and cost). 

Therefore we do not have spare trains available if we have a reduced number of sets available for use. This can be because of issues identified at the depot before being released into passenger service. We’re facing a particular challenge at the moment with the wheels on our trains due to an infrastructure fault. This is in the process of being resolved but will take time due to lead-in times for new parts.

 We are anticipating that we will be short of our full complement of trains for at least the next 6 weeks, with some services – including those which are used by school and college students – to be formed of fewer carriages than planned during this period. This is preferable to cancelling a service outright but will mean some services are extremely busy and will at times mean customers having to stand. We appreciate this is uncomfortable and we would prefer if every customers was able to be seated however this is preferable to cancelling a service altogether. 

 Our depot and control teams know how important our school services are and will do all they can to ensure they run in the planned formation, but we do expect this will not be possible at all times over the coming weeks. We’ve secured rail ticket acceptance on local buses – number 12 and number 57 – to help alleviate pressure on rail services during this period.

Full details will be found at www.gwr.com