Passengers advised to Check Before You Travel as upgrade work takes place between Swindon and Bristol

Wednesday 16 Aug 2017

Passengers advised to Check Before You Travel as upgrade work takes place between Swindon and Bristol

Region & Route:: Wales & Western: Western; | Wales & Western

Passengers travelling between South Wales, Bristol Parkway and London Paddington are reminded to Check Before You Travel from this weekend as Network Rail prepares to undertake a series of major upgrades and electrification work on the line between Swindon and Bristol Parkway.

Network Rail will undertake electrification work in Chipping Sodbury and Alderton tunnels as well as beginning the construction of a new platform at Bristol Parkway to enable Great Western Railway (GWR)’s new fleet of Intercity Express Trains to operate. These brand new trains will deliver over a fifth more seats per train, more frequent services and reduced journey times for passengers.

To take place from Saturday 19 August to Friday 15 September, the work is a key part of the modernisation of the Great Western mainline, allowing the new trains to run.

The upgrade includes the installation of the Overhead Line Equipment (OLE) used to hold the wires for electrification, platform upgrades at Bristol Parkway station and the introduction of a flood resilience scheme at Chipping Sodbury to make the railway more reliable.

Network Rail’s major programmes director David Buisson said:

“The upgrade between Swindon and Bristol Parkway is vital as we continue to deliver electrification and a more reliable railway for our passengers.

“I’d like to thank residents living near to the railway and passengers for their continued support throughout the modernisation work which forms part of our Railway Upgrade Plan.”

GWR operations director Rob Mullen said:

“The work in the Bristol Parkway area is a crucial part of Network Rail’s Great Western mainline upgrade which, with the roll-out our new fleet of Intercity Express Trains, will provide the greatest step-change in experience for our passengers in a generation.

“It is an exciting time with new trains due to enter service in a matter of months. This work is key to delivering the full benefits these new trains will bring.”

Bristol Parkway will remain open throughout, but there will be no trains calling at the station from 2-15 September. A full list of service amendments is available here: http://www.GWR.com/BristolParkway2017.

Passengers can check their journeys before travelling at www.nationalrail.co.uk and www.GWR.com

For more information on GWR’s new trains please click here.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Customers on local services between Yate and Filton Abbey Wood will be affected for two weeks from Saturday 2 September.

For the duration of the works, those travelling between South Wales, Bristol Parkway and London:

High speed services will call at Patchway, instead of Bristol Parkway (services will be reduced during the off peak)
Replacement buses will run between Bristol Parkway and Patchway
From 19 August until 1 September, some peak time trains will still call at Bristol Parkway, as well as at weekends

Travelling from Saturday 2 to Friday 15 September between Gloucester, Bristol Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads?

Trains will continue to run between Yate and Gloucester, and Filton Abbey Wood and Bristol Temple Meads
Local services between Yate and Filton Abbey Wood will be replaced by buses
CrossCountry trains will be diverted; and call at Patchway instead of Bristol Parkway

Travelling to and from South Wales over August Bank Holiday (Saturday 26 to Monday 28 August)?

There will be no trains between Newport and Cardiff; with replacement buses running instead
Services will continue to run between Swansea and Cardiff; High speed trains on the London Paddington to South Wales route will start and terminate at Newport.

Travelling at the weekend this Autumn?

On weekends from 23/24 September until 18/19 November there will be further improvement work affecting South Wales and Bristol Parkway services. Customers should check their journeys at GWR.com.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office -Western route
MediaRelationsWestern@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

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