Media centre

Wednesday 14 Sep 2016

Rail passengers to check before they travel ahead of South Wales Mainline upgrade this weekend

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

Rail passengers are being urged to check before they travel this weekend as all services between Cardiff Central station and Bristol Parkway will be affected by essential electrification work on the South Wales Mainline – all part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan.

From Saturday, 17 September until the early hours of Monday, 19 September the line between Newport and Cardiff will be closed and a bus replacement service will be in operation as Network Rail engineers will work day and night to upgrade five road bridges.

Beresford Road Bridge in Cardiff and Bridge Street, Maesglas Road, Hawse Lane and Green Lane bridges in Newport all require demolition and reconstruction to accommodate the electrical equipment which will power the new fleet of electric trains resulting in faster, greener, quieter and more reliable services for passengers.

This weekend the main span of Beresford Road Bridge in Splott will be fully demolished. As engineers complete this critical milestone in the upgrade project the temporary footbridge will be closed so the demolition work can be completed safely.

In Newport city centre the new Bridge Street Road Bridge deck will be lifted by crane into position. Maesglas Road Bridge will be demolished and Hawse Lane and Green Lane bridges located in the Marshfield area of Newport will also both be demolished as Network Rail’s orange army will work day and night at all these sites over the weekend.

Karl Gilmore, programme manager at Network Rail said: “Reconstruction of the bridges is essential as we prepare the South Wales Mainline for electrification. Electrifying the railway will provide a faster, greener more reliable service for the thousands of passengers that use the railway every day.

“We have designed the programme of work to keep disruption to the local community to a minimum. However, at critical milestones during the project this vital work will be noisy, particularly the demolition work taking place this weekend and we would like to thank the community for their patience and understanding while we carry out this essential upgrade work.”

There will also be a new section of track and gantry installed as part of the Cardiff Area Signalling Renewal project in the Cardiff Central area. This work will commence on the evening of Friday, 16 September and finish in the early hours of Monday, 19 September and is all part of the project to modernise the Cardiff and Valleys railway to improve the reliability of train services.

South Wales Mainline passengers travelling on Great Western Railway (GWR) London services are also reminded to plan their journeys ahead. Services are currently being diverted between Swindon and Newport until Friday, 21 October due to the Severn Tunnel electrification upgrade work, increasing journey times by approximately 35 minutes.

Ends

 

Notes to editor:

Rail passengers are advised to check before they travel this weekend at National Rail Enquiries: www.nationalrail.co.uk 

Bus replacement services will be in operation between Cardiff and Newport, including the Ebbw Vale to Cardiff line, between Cardiff and Bristol Parkway, between Newport and Bristol Parkway, Severn Tunnel Junction and Bristol Parkway.