Bristol Temple Meads rail upgrade reaches halfway point

The upgrade should allow more services to pass through Bristol and help to maintain reliability, Great Western Railway said

Passengers can expect another four weeks of disruption to rail services as a major track upgrade reaches its half-way point.

Work to upgrade Bristol East Junction was due to last eight weeks as part of a £132m government funded project.

The aim is to increase trains and reduces congestion in and out of Bristol Temple Meads station.

Engineers have already replaced 1.3 miles (2.1km) of track and completed new track alignment on three platforms.

Richard Rowland, Great Western Railway customer service and operations director, said: "This work will in time help us to deliver 4,000 more train seats a day into the city, on more services through Bristol and help to reduce the conflict between long-distance and local stopping services, helping to maintain the reliability of our trains".

The work has caused major disruption for passengers as direct trains have been cancelled and replacement buses are operating on many services.

As attention now turns to the London side of the junction passengers are being asked to continue to check before travelling.

An extra line is being added to increase rail capacity

Michelle Handforth, Network Rail's Wales & Western managing director, said: "I'd like to thank all passengers for their continued patience as we do this huge piece of work in Bristol.

"The improvements at Bristol Temple Meads will also help transform the station and improve journeys".

As part of the upgrade of Bristol East Junction, an extra line is being added to enable new services to run.

In the next few weeks engineers will dig out and replace the old track and stone on the railway lines towards Bath Spa and London Paddington.

The scheduled completion date is Friday 3 September.