The Ebbw Vale railway line is set to close for nine days in order for major upgrades to be made to stations on the route. Passengers are being urged to check their journey plans before travelling with no rail services operating on the line while work is carried out.
The line will be closed between Saturday, October 22, and Sunday, October 30, with rail replacement services running for passengers during this time. Get the latest traffic and travel news sent straight to your inbox for free by signing up to the WalesOnline newsletter.
The closures forms part of a multi-million-pound project to increase rail services on the line with Transport for Wales aiming to run new hourly train services between Ebbw Vale Town and Newport alongside the existing hourly service between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff.
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While the line is closed engineers will extend platforms and install a new rail bridge at Newbridge station while also extending platforms at Llanhilleth station. Half a kilometre of new track will also be laid on the line close to Crosskeys station.
Bridge Street in Newbridge will also be closed as engineers work to replace the rail bridge. A full road closure will take place from 11pm on Friday, October 21, until 5am on Monday, October 31, with a diversion route put in place.
Preparation work was carried out earlier this year with further closures expected on the line until the end of next summer, which passengers will be told about closer to the time. As well as delivering increased rail services and upgraded stations the project will also see a new state-of-the-art signalling system installed at the southern end of the line.
Nick Millington, interim route director at Network Rail Wales & Borders, said the investment will "transform" services on the line and "really benefit the communities it serves". He added: “It’s fantastic to see the transformation of the Ebbw Vale line really take shape. I would like to thank the local communities, in advance, for their patience while we safely carry out this work.”
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