A father has been left out of pocket after being caught up in recent train cancellations.

Barry Jackson, 62, from Woodley had organised a family trip to Bath to watch a rugby match the day after his daughter's birthday. 

The family were to travel with friends to Bath, where they would join others for a joint birthday celebration, where the birthday girls would meet one of the players after the game.

However, what was a well-planned and thought-out day quickly transpired into chaos after train delays led to cancellations.

Having taken a bus from Woodley to Reading due to South Western trains not running from Earley, Barry and his family arrived at the train station with "plenty of time" as they knew there might be problems.

He said: "On arrival, we found out the 12.34pm to Bath had been cancelled, and when asked about how we could get there we were told that the next train to Bath was due about 1.40pm but they didn't know if this was running."

After the family expressed their frustration to station staff they were told they could travel via Bristol, but would have to make us the difference in the fee.

Fed up of the situation the family called it a day. Barry said: "If we were struggling to get down there, how easy would it have been to get back?"

As a result, Barry was left with £160 of match day tickets which weren't refundable and unused rail cars.

He added that his daughter was "disappointed" and the day was a "complete waste".

"It was a whole day absolutely wasted," Barry said.

"We were fuming. We had friends waiting for us.

"It was an awful experience. There were more people on duty at Reading station than I have ever seen trying to direct people.

"It is becoming a regular occurrence for Network Rail. Every time you try and go somewhere there is something going on."

A spokesperson for GWR said: "We and our customers share the concern of the rail regulator that around two-thirds of delays to our trains have been caused by infrastructure issues and that performance has not been good enough recently.

"Network Rail has appointed a new senior team, and this renewed approach appears to be bringing a new sense of focus. and we welcome this alongside the cross-industry review being conducted by the Office of Rail and Road to help get to the bottom of these issues and deliver better performance for passengers."

We want to know how recent train disruptions have affected you. Get in touch at daisy.waites@newsquest.co.uk