Media centre

Tuesday 8 Mar 2016

Cowbridge Road railway bridge to get a facelift

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

Cowbridge Road Railway Bridge in Bridgend is being refurbished as part of Network Rail’s £40bn Railway Upgrade Plan to provide a bigger, better, more reliable railway for passengers.

Network Rail’s engineering ‘orange army’ will be carrying out essential repairs to address the damage caused by a number of vehicles that have struck the bridge in recent years. They will also use the opportunity to improve the bridge’s appearance by removing the current dilapidated paint coating and giving it a fresh lick of paint.

In order to safely complete the repair and renewal works to the bridge, the A473 Cowbridge Road will be closed to all traffic from 8pm on Friday, 11 March and will reopen at 5am on Monday, 14 March. A diversionary route will be in place and will be clearly signposted.

Pedestrian access on the footpaths underneath the bridge will also be closed for the duration of the work. Network Rail will be providing a free minibus to shuttle pedestrians from one side of the bridge to the other in order to minimise disruption.

Rebecca Heeley, community relations manager for Network Rail Wales said: “The railway bridge on Cowbridge Road is getting a much needed facelift.

“We have concentrated this essential work into as short a time-frame as possible to minimise disruption to our lineside neighbours, pedestrians and road users. We would like to thank everyone in advance for their patience.”

Ends

 

Notes to editors:

The diversionary route for pedestrians and vehicles is the A473 Cowbridge Road, to its junction with the A48, at the Waterton Roundabout; A48 By-Pass Road to the A48 Ewenny Roundabout; Ewenny Road, to its junction with Cowbridge Road; Cowbridge Road, towards the rail bridge and reverse in the opposite direction.

The Railway Upgrade Plan is Network Rail’s £40bn spending plan for Britain’s railways for the five year period up to 31 March 2019. The plan is designed to provide more capacity, relieve crowding and respond to tremendous growth the railways have seen – a doubling of passengers in the past twenty years. The plan will deliver a bigger, better railway with more trains, longer trains, faster trains with more infrastructure, more reliable infrastructure and better facilities for passengers, especially at stations.