Great Western Railway has announced that certain services in the South West of England are to be affected by a programme of weekend rail improvement work later in January, with the work taking place over the course of three weekends.
Services between Bath and Bristol as well as those between Gloucester, Cheltenham and Worcester are to be disrupted over the weekends of the 14th and 15th, 21st and 22nd, and the 29th January. Due to this disruption, no trains will run between Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads as well as those between Gloucester and Worcester Shrub Hill or Worcester Parkway.
The work will involve plans to renew tracks, and maintain tunnels
Oana Apetroaie, GWR’s Station Manager for Bath Spa and Chippenham, said:
“These track upgrades will enable us to maintain services for customers travelling on a key section of the railway in the Bath and Bristol area.
“Where possible we will divert trains, or providing alternative road transport, to ensure our customers can still continue their journeys.”
The schedule, including bus replacement services, is as follows:
- Hourly trains will run between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads via Bristol Parkway – not stopping at Chippenham or Bath Spa
- Some trains will run between London Paddington and Bath Spa instead, as well as shuttle trains running between Swindon, Chippenham and Bath Spa
- Trains will also run between London Paddington and Gloucester
- Trains will run between Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff Central or Gloucester
- Trains are to run between Bath Spa and the south coast via Westbury
- Buses will replace trains between Bristol Temple Meads and Bath Spa
- Buses are also replacing trains between Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa or Worcester – except for Saturday 28th January when trains will be running via Cheltenham Spa.
Chris Rule, GWR’s Station Manager for Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa, said:
“This important rail improvement work will also impact CrossCountry services between Gloucester and Worcestershire Parkway as well as GWR trains.
“West Midlands Railway train services will still be running between Worcester Shrub Hill and Great Malvern or Hereford.”
