Those fine people at First Great Western have been in touch to tell us some major improvements on the main rail line between Newport and Bristol. This is pretty important stuff if local rail services are a lifeline for your work or recreation.
Network Rail will be carrying out work to upgrade the signalling equipment and track along the railway line between Bristol and Newport, which means some temporary changes to First Great Western and Arriva Trains Wales services.
At the same time, we’ve scheduled significant improvements to Newport Station – part of the city’s regeneration programme in the build up to next year’s Ryder Cup – to avoid having to inconvenience customers further later in the year.
During the work, which will take place between 2215 on 24 December and 0440 on 4 January, we will not be able to run services between Bristol stations and Newport and the line will be closed. In those 10 days more than 300 engineers will be working around the clock to replace around 40 miles of signalling.
We will be providing alternative road transport, with hourly non-stop coaches from Bristol Parkway to Newport and hourly Bristol Parkway to Severn Tunnel Junction, calling at Patchway. However, it is likely your journey will take longer than normal.
We understand this is likely to cause issues for customers in the short term but, once complete, the work will improve punctuality and reliability to your train services.
Further details of the alternative arrangements can be accessed on our website at www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/southwales , where you can also register for email updates or look out for information posters displayed at stations along the route. We suggest you check these before you plan your journey.
If you would like to talk to us about the resignalling scheme, or the alternative arrangements we’ve put in place, come and join us at one of our Meet the Manager sessions at the following locations:
Bristol Parkway:8 December0645 – 0900
Newport:9 December0700 - 0900 and 1600 - 1800
Bristol Temple Meads:14 December1600 - 1900