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Friday 3 Nov 2023

Passengers urged to plan ahead as Ebbw Vale line upgrade reaches final stage

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

Network Rail is reminding passengers to check before they travel as the multi-million-pound upgrade of the Ebbw Vale line moves into its final stage.

Buses will replace trains between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff Central from Wednesday 15 November to Sunday 3 December as teams work around the clock to transform the line.

Engineers from Network Rail will carry out 1.2 km of track upgrades at nine different locations between Crosskeys and Crumlin, to complete the creation of a seven-mile loop to enable trains to pass in the future.   

Elsewhere on the line, contractors from Siemens will finish setting up and connecting the new signalling system around the Park Junction area. This will help improve the resilience and reliability of passenger and freight journeys. 

The work is all part of the multi-million-pound investment to provide an additional hourly service between Ebbw Vale Town and Newport. The transformation of the line has been funded by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council via a loan from the Welsh Government, with the Department for Transport and Network Rail providing a further £17m to deliver signalling upgrades and track renewal.

During the 19-day temporary closure of the line, Transport for Wales will be running a bus service between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff Central. Passengers are urged to plan ahead at /www.journeycheck.com/tfwrail and  www.nationalrail.co.uk

Network Rail's route director for Wales and Borders Nick Millington said: “Completing this final phase of work will transform how passengers travel on the Ebbw Vale line and encourage more people to use public transport and support our aim of decarbonisation.

“To keep everyone safe, this work can only be carried out while the line is closed and we are sorry for any inconvenience. I’d like to again thank passengers and our neighbours for continuing to bear with us as we complete these vital improvements.”

TfW’s planning and performance director Colin Lea said: “These works are vital for the timetable enhancements we’ll be bringing in on this route.

“We urge our customers to continue to check before you travel during this period, and as always thank you for your patience whilst we carry out these essential works to upgrade and improve future travel on the Ebbw Vale line.”