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Friday 20 May 2022

Chepstow residents invited to find out more ahead of £25m summer resilience upgrade on Newport-Gloucester line

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

Buses will replace trains from Monday 18 July - Saturday 3 September while major work to upgrade the line is delivered.

Communities in Chepstow are being invited to a drop-in event to find out more about plans to improve resilience and upgrade the track on the railway between Newport and Gloucester. The drop-in session takes place next Wednesday 25 May, between 5.30pm and 8.00pm at the Drill Hall, Lower Church Street, Chepstow. 

Connecting South Wales with the Midlands, west of England and north of England, the Gloucester-Newport line is a vital passenger and freight link, but its position alongside the Severn Estuary means it’s exposed to rain, wind and sea. 

Climate change and more frequent extreme weather events have led to five major landslips in the last two years alone. This has devastated the line with extended closures of the railway and speed restrictions - estimated to have impacted more than 200,000 trains.

The £25m upgrade will include the removal of approximately 30,000 tonnes of material from the cliff face along a three-mile stretch of railway near Lydney, in the Forest of Dean. A state-of-the-art mesh and bolt system will then be installed to protect the railway from falling debris. 

The railway will be closed between Lydney and Gloucester from Monday 18 July to Saturday 3 September. From Monday 18 July to Saturday 30 July, the closure will extend to Severn Tunnel Junction, as work will also be undertaken to renew the railway track over Chepstow Viaduct, on the River Wye.

Network Rail is working with Transport for Wales and CrossCountry to keep passengers moving while work is underway. Buses will run every hour between Gloucester and Newport, stopping at all stations. A bus service will also operate between Gloucester and Severn Tunnel Junction, during the two-week closure of that section of the line. 

Cross Country train services will run Nottingham - Birmingham New Street - Gloucester. Customers travelling between the Midlands and Cardiff Central can travel on GWR train services via Bristol Parkway. 

Residents and passengers with any questions about the work can drop into the Chepstow event any time between 5.30pm and 8pm, where members of the Network Rail project team will be on hand with more information. 

Passengers are advised to check before they travel at nationalrail.co.uk. 

Bill Kelly, Wales & Borders route director at Network Rail said: “This is a vital passenger and freight link so we must act now to protect the line from extreme weather events and our changing climate. 

“We’ve carefully planned this work to take place during the summer holidays to minimise disruption for those who rely on the line for work and education. I'd like to thank everyone for their patience as we work to protect this important stretch of railway and make passengers’ journeys more reliable."

Jan Chaudhry van der Velde, Managing Director of Transport for Wales, said: “Work on the rail infrastructure to improve weather resilience has become more urgent, as climate change effects and severe weather have disrupted train services on several occasions in recent years.

"We will be providing buses in place of trains during this work to keep passengers moving, and thank passenger in advance for their patience.  The long- term benefits will bring more reliable train services.  During the works, we ask customers to check before setting off at https://www.journeycheck.com/tfwrail/.” 

CrossCountry’s Regional Director, Tom Birch, said: “This line is crucial for both local rail journeys and connectivity between Wales and England, so ensuring its resilience against weather-related events is important for everyone.  We’d like to thank customers for their patience while the works are completed and look forward to the quick return of our regular train services.”