Passengers reminded to plan ahead as track upgrades begin in Barmouth and Cambrian Coast line

Thursday 10 Nov 2022

Passengers reminded to plan ahead as track upgrades begin in Barmouth and Cambrian Coast line

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

Buses will replace trains for four weeks, from Monday 14 November, while Network Rail continues work to refurbish Barmouth Viaduct on vital north Wales rail link.

Engineers will replace track across in the town of Barmouth and further south on the Cambrian Coast line at Tywyn, which will make journeys more reliable for passengers in future.

Buses will replace trains between Machynlleth and Pwllheli from Monday 14 to Friday 18 November.

From Saturday 19 November to Friday 9 December, buses will remain in operation between Machynlleth and Harlech, but the railway will reopen between Harlech and Pwllheli so that Transport for Wales can run a shuttle rail service. The railway will reopen fully on Saturday 10 December in time for the Christmas period.

Passengers are advised to plan ahead and check www.tfw.wales before travelling.

The footpath across the magnificent Barmouth viaduct will need to close from 8pm on 13 November to 5am on 10 December, to protect the safety of staff and the public.

Nick Millington, interim route director at Network Rail Wales and Borders said: "We would like to thank the local community for bearing with us throughout this period as we carry out these essential upgrades.

“We know how important this rail link is to local communities, so we’ve carefully planned our work around the school holiday and the festive period to minimise disruption as much as possible.”

Earlier this autumn, the railway was closed to passenger services for five weeks from 12 September to 14 October, reopening in time for the October half term.

Notes to Editors

The restoration of Barmouth’s metallic elements was originally planned to take place in one go, in autumn 2022, but is now being split across the next two years, to reduce the impact on rail services, the community and local economy. Dates for working on the viaduct during 2023 are still being finalised.
The work to refurbish the iconic railway structure is the biggest and most ambitious in its history. As well as upgrading the metallic elements of the Grade II* listed bridge and laying new track, additional repairs will be carried out including strengthening work to the north abutments and further upgrades of some of the timber elements following the major renewals of timber in 2020 and 2021.

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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.

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