Christmas train strikes: tourists pay £320 to travel to Cotswold

Two American tourists were apparently left stranded at London Paddington after they found out the train they were hoping to catch was cancelled. 

And thousands of other railway passengers were met with the same fate at London Paddington, which is a hub for the west of England and South Wales.  

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The pair of tourists decided to fork out £320 for a taxi to take them to their destination - a swanky spa hotel in Moreton-in-Marsh. 

Simon Calder, travel correspondent for The Independent, said he met the tourists who forked out the lofty fee for a one hour and 50 minute car journey.  

His report claims the couple paid the lofty fare and travelled from London to Moreton-in-March, which is 84.3 miles due to the problems at Paddington station on Tuesday morning. 

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Before making a swift exit from the chaos at the train station, the pair said they were eager to reach the spa before 1pm because they had already prepaid for all their treatments.

In the report, Mr Calder said: "Two American tourists were last seen heading for the exit from Paddington having booked a car to take them to a spa hotel Moreton-in-Marsh in the Cotswold at a cost of £320.

"'We've already paid for treatments, and they start at 1pm,' they said as they left."

Other passengers were left waiting for their trains for hours and were 'upset' over the lack of communication. 

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The picket line at Worcester Shrub Hill on a previous strike day (Image: NQ)

Railway Strikes and how they will affect Worcestershire 

There is more travel chaos on the way with rail passengers warned to expect severely disrupted services during the first week of 2023 as two rail unions are set to take strike action.

Network Rail staff in the RMT union will stage two 48-hour walkouts on Tuesday, January 3 and Wednesday, January 4 as well as Friday, January 6 and Saturday, January 7.

On these days there will be limited services from Birmingham New Street but none of these will pass through Worcester.