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Tuesday 5 Mar 2019

Residents and passengers thanked as railway upgrade work between Swansea and Port Talbot is completed

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

Network Rail has thanked residents and passengers for their patience following the successful completion of railway upgrade work between Swansea and Port Talbot, which will make the railway more reliable for passengers.

Over the weekend, Network Rail teams worked around the clock to remove old signal structures on the railway between Swansea and Port Talbot and to bring into use the new state of the art signalling system.

The £60m investment, which is the latest phase of the South Wales re-signalling programme, has seen the installation of 160 miles of new cable, 55 new LED digital signals, 160 metres of new track and new buffers at Swansea station.  

Mark Neate, project manager for Network Rail Wales and Borders, said: “We would like to thank the local community and rail passengers for bearing with us whilst we delivered this work.

“The new signalling system between Swansea and Port Talbot will make the railway more reliable and resilient for passengers as it will allow railway traffic to be operated in either direction on the line. Although I understand disruption is never ideal, the work we have delivered will benefit rail users for many decades to come.”

There will be changes to some weekend services between Cardiff and Camarthen on Saturday 9, Sunday 10, Saturday 23, Sunday 24, Sunday 31 March and Sunday 7 April, as Network Rail engineers undertake follow up works. Passengers are advised to check their journey before travelling at www.nationalrail.co.uk.