South Wales: Rail delays for 13 days due to bridge work
- Published
Rail services between London and south Wales will be delayed by 50 minutes for 13 days due to bridge replacement work.
Network Rail will replace a bridge in Little Stoke, South Gloucestershire, between Sunday and 6 November.
Services will be diverted via an alternative route and will not call at Bristol Parkway.
A 17-day "fire break" lockdown is in place in Wales, with only essential travel permitted.
The bridge is being replaced to allow a widened road under the railway, to pave the way for an improved bus metro in South Gloucestershire.
Dan Okey of operator GWR said: "We have been working hard to make sure that people can be confident to travel safely, and that includes running as many trains and carriages as we can to make extra room, as well as enhanced cleaning and social distancing measures.
"Please do however, check before you travel and be considerate of others."
An hourly train service will operate between London Paddington and Bristol Parkway on weekdays at peak times only.
Direct trains between London and south Wales will operate all day via Gloucester, avoiding Bristol; and between London and Bristol Temple Meads, for connecting services to Bristol Parkway.
Replacement bus services will operate between Bristol Parkway and Newport.
The replacement work is due to take place at a railway bridge in Gipsy Patch Lane in Little Stoke
Trains between Portsmouth Harbour and Cardiff Central will terminate at Bristol Parkway, where buses will replace trains to Newport.
GWR said replacement bus services may be in demand at the busiest times of day, so it "might be better to travel outside of these periods".
Trains between Taunton and Cardiff Central will terminate at Bristol Temple Meads instead.
With more people starting to use trains again, GWR reminded passengers to plan ahead, travel at quieter times where possible, to buy a ticket online and in advance, and to book ahead they needed travel assistance.
On Friday, a Wales-wide coronavirus lockdown replaced previous local lockdowns and travel bans, in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus.
People are only allowed to leave their homes and travel for a "reasonable" cause, such as trips to buy essential items - including food and medication - to seek medical help, get a coronavirus test, or to deliver care.
You can also travel to work, but only if you are a critical worker, or you do a job where you cannot work from home.
- Published28 September 2020
- Published28 January 2020
