He added the timing was particularly difficult as schools were breaking up for the summer holidays and thousands of visitors would usually pass through the station on their way to the English Riviera.
Panes said GWR’s priority was to reopen the station as quickly as possible, but he could not give a timescale because safety inspections were still under way.
“What I will say is that we just want to get those services back up and running,” he said.
“We want people to be using that station again and we’ll be doing that as quickly and as safely as we can.”
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