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Thursday 30 Jun 2022

Passengers reminded to check before travelling this summer ahead of £25m resilience upgrade on Newport to Gloucester line

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western: Western

Network Rail’s resilience programme begins in July and has been specially designed to protect the line from extreme-weather landslips, caused by climate change. 

The Newport-Gloucester line has been plagued by landslips in recent years, with five major incidents recorded between 2020-2021, alone. This has led to extended closures of the railway and temporary speed restrictions, delaying more than 200,000 trains.   

To prevent future long-term closures of the railway, Network Rail has announced a £25m investment scheme to protect the line. 

More than 30,000 tonnes of material will be removed from the cliff face before 27,000 square metres of mesh can be installed along three miles of track. This will stabilise the cliff face and prevent landslips from affecting the track below.  

To carry out this vital work safely, the railway will be temporarily closed between Lydney and Gloucester for seven weeks, from 07:00 on Monday 18 July until 06:00 on Saturday 3 September 2022 with buses replacing trains*. 

For the first two weeks, the closure will extend to Severn Tunnel Junction to allow essential track renewal work to take place near Chepstow from Monday 18 July until Saturday 30 July. 

The bulk of the work is planned to take place during the school holidays, so students who rely on the line to get to school will not be disrupted and the line will be open at night, at times, to keep vital freight services running. 

Nick Millington, acting route director at Network Rail Wales & Border said: “We’re already seeing the extreme effect climate change is having on our weather - with coastal and more exposed parts of the railway being heavily impacted. Keeping the railway safe is our number one priority and we’re also striving to secure the future of vital rail links, like this, in Wales and the Borders.” 

“I recognise there’s never an ideal time to close the railway, but we’ve done everything we can to minimise disruption for passengers and freight services while we carry out this work, which will make passengers’ journey much more reliable in the future.” 

Engineering contractors, Taziker, have been awarded the contract for the project, working alongside Network Rail. 

Steve Corcoran, Chief Executive of Taziker, said: “We’re extremely proud to be partnering up with Network Rail on this project. 

“Our expert teams have created a system of works that will not only protect the line for passengers from future landslips, but also protect the local community and environment while the work is undertaken using green energy supplies, investing in the local economy and minimising disruption where possible.” 

To reduce carbon emissions and noise pollution, Taziker will be using 100% solar-powered generators on the work site to power welfare units, office cabins and lighting. Money is also being investment into the local economy with the 70 personnel on shift, each day, having their lunch provided by ‘Joshua’s Catering Company’, based in Lydney.  

Passengers are reminded to check before travelling this summer at nationalrail.co.uk.