Commuters in south Wales could face a difficult few days ahead with significant disruption expected on the roads and railways. Those travelling between England and Wales will be impacted by closures affecting both Severn Crossings, while some trains crossing over the border are set to be replaced with buses.
The most high-profile closure on the roads is that of the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge, which is set to be occupied by protesters on Monday morning. The demonstration against rising fuel prices will see two lanes of the bridge shut, with only one lane open for other traffic.
There will also be disruption on the M48, with the Severn Bridge being closed for a second consecutive weekend. Get the latest traffic and travel news from across Wales sent straight to your inbox by free by signing up to our newsletters.
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It's not just on the road that commuters will be affected, however, with the rail network also set to face significant disruption. Essential works will see key lines including the Severn Tunnel closed just days after strikes saw much of the network grind to a halt across the country.
The length of this disruption varies, with some routes affected for a matter of hours and others for more than a week. To avoid getting caught out, here's everything you need to know ahead of what could be a chaotic week on the roads and railways.
M4 Prince of Wales Bridge
Protestors are going ahead with their plan to shut lanes of the Prince of Wales Bridge in a demonstration against rising fuel prices. Campaigners say they plan to take to the bridge on Monday, July 4, from 7am until 7pm with banners calling for more government action on high petrol and diesel prices across the country.
The protesters say they intend to shut lanes two and three of the M4 bridge both eastbound and westbound with one lane open for all other traffic. Demonstrators originally planned to close the M48 bridge on the same day, but following discussion with the police this will now not go ahead, although organisers are intent on going ahead with the event on the Prince of Wales Bridge
While posts relating to the event received tens of thousands of shares on social media, it is unknown how many protesters will show up on the bridge on Monday. Organisers said some will carry banners with the slogan: “Don’t get shafted by the pump.”
A social media group used to organise the protest has 92 members, but some in the group say they became members to stay updated on expected traffic issues and are not expected to attend. You can find everything you need to know about what the protesters plan to do when they take to the bridge here.
M48 Severn Bridge
Before Monday's protest on the Prince of Wales Bridge, motorists will also be unable to cross the other Severn Crossing, with the M48 Bridge being shut for the second weekend in a row. The bridge was first shut last weekend as painstaking work to repair and replace corroded suspension cables began.
The bridge will shut to all traffic from 7pm on Friday, July 1, until 6am on Monday, July 4 . Diversions will be in place via the Prince of Wales Bridge during this time. The work is planned to take eight months and will see the bridge closed to drivers over three weekends in the summer with vehicles over 2.9 metres prohibited from using the bridge.
National Highways, which is responsible for the bridge, said the "essential programme of work" was needed to carry out inspections of the suspension cables and tackle corrosion on the bridge, which has been open since 1966. Work will include refurbishment and maintenance of many bridge expansion joints, carriageway surfacing repairs, blasting and painting of parapets and lighting column bases, and gulley and drain cleaning.
The road on the M48 Severn Bridge is much narrower than a typical motorway, giving less space to carry out maintenance. This means it is often closed more often than most other motorways. You can read more about the work here.
Trains
The Severn Tunnel is set to be closed for more than a week as part of essential rail works, disrupting Great Western Railway services for the entirety of its duration. Two miles of track within the tunnel are being renewed as plans to improve passengers' journeys making them faster and more reliable in the future.
The track will be out of use from Friday, July 1, until Sunday, July 10, affecting connecting journeys from South Wales to England with warnings in place encouraging passengers to plan their trip accordingly, replacement services will be offered. Follow-up engineering work is also planned on Sunday, July 17, and again on Sunday, August 14 .
The following services will be affected:
- Trains between London and south Wales will use an alternative route between Swindon and Newport – stopping at Gloucester instead of Bristol Parkway
- A limited train service will still run between London Paddington and Bristol Parkway on weekdays only – otherwise travel via Bristol Temple Meads instead
- Buses replace trains between Bristol Parkway and Newport
Two lines between Cardiff and Pontypridd are also set to be closed for nearly a week as major engineering work takes place. From Saturday, July 2, until Friday, July 8 , the railway lines from Cardiff Central to Radyr (via Fairwater) and from Radyr to Pontypridd will be closed to trains.
Bus replacement services will be in operation while the lines are closed, with Transport for Wales telling passengers to check for the latest information on services before they travel. The closure has been brought in to allow major engineering work to continue on the South Wales Metro, which is set to be finished in 2024. You can find out more information about the closures here.
Next week's disruption comes after days of widespread rail strikes. The vast majority of routes in Wales were without service on Tuesday, June 21, Thursday, June 23, and Saturday, June 25 due to members of the RMT union, who work for Network Rail, walking out. While there are no more strikes planned at the moment, RMT boss Mick Lynch has said it is "extremely likely" that further industrial action will follow if talks between unions and rail bosses continue to fail.
Other traffic alerts
- M4 eastbound junction 20 to 18: Road marking works are planned between 9pm on July 6 and 6am on July 8. Traffic Wales says this will cause moderate disruption for drivers.
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M4 eastbound junction 19 to 18: Roadworks are taking place between 9pm on June 24 and 6am on July 5. Traffic Wales says this will only cause slight disruption for drivers.
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