Gloucester to Worcester Parkway Closed this Weekend - As Is the M5 Passing Gloucester!

Envoy · 2026-10-18T08:46:44+0100

The M5 section east of Gloucester is closed this weekend (17 & 18 October 2026) meaning traffic is diverting to other routes. At the same time, Network Rail Engineering work means that the railway between Gloucester & Worcestershire Parkway is also closed with buses being used to transport train passengers. Looks like TFW are using old 2 coach 153 sprinters on the route between Gloucester & Cardiff and no Cross Country trains on the line via Chepstow.

You really could not make it up: National Highways England and Network Rail not talking with each other.

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LNW-GW Joint · 2026-10-18T10:45:59+0100

Envoy said:
The M5 section east of Gloucester is closed this weekend (17 & 18 October 2026) meaning traffic is diverting to other routes. At the same time, Network Rail Engineering work means that the railway between Gloucester & Worcestershire Parkway is also closed with buses being used to transport train passengers. Looks like TFW are using old 2 coach 153 sprinters on the route between Gloucester & Cardiff and no Cross Country trains on the line via Chepstow.
You really could not make it up: National Highways England and Network Rail not talking with each other.

I remember a time under BR when a closure at Gloucester had Bristol-Birmingham trains diverted via the Severn Tunnel, Hereford and Great Malvern to Worcester (including the then mail/sleeper Plymouth-Scotland).

Harpo · 2026-10-18T10:55:00+0100

LNW-GW Joint said:
I remember a time under BR when a closure at Gloucester had Bristol-Birmingham trains diverted via the Severn Tunnel, Hereford and Great Malvern to Worcester (including the then mail/sleeper Plymouth-Scotland).

In later years Oxford/Banbury was the diversion for the Cheltenham route and in the mid 80s that even extended to Oxford - Bletchley.

popeter45 · 2026-10-18T10:58:10+0100

travelling to Cheltenham today, weirdly seems they are not running any of the Pad-chelt trains to Gloucester (for people to take the 94 bus to Cheltenham), making the least changes route via Worcester annoyingly

mikeb42 · 2026-10-18T15:33:48+0100

Envoy said:
You really could not make it up: National Highways England and Network Rail not talking with each other.

They have form for it in this locale.

Just a year or so back there was a full weekend closure of the M4 in both directions between Bristol and Bath which caused absolute gridlock. NR had scheduled a simultaneous full weekend closure of at least the line Between Bristol Parkway and Swindon and, as I recall it, Bristol Parkway itself and all routes through it.

It would be nice to be able to sincerely say it is beyond belief, but bitter experience dictates otherwise.

These large operations must be planned months or years in advance. How it's possible that major public bodies in receipt of enormous amounts of public money don't see fit to coordinate such things in the interests of their paymasters (i.e. us) it's hard to know.

Given the cavalier way that the Highways Agency externalises costs onto us (again) for its own convenience via the increasingly ridiculous way it carries out works on the trunk road network, my money is on them being even more likely than NR to be the culprit in both cases.

ValleyLines142 · 2026-10-18T15:52:03+0100

popeter45 said:
travelling to Cheltenham today, weirdly seems they are not running any of the Pad-chelt trains to Gloucester (for people to take the 94 bus to Cheltenham), making the least changes route via Worcester annoyingly

Paddington to Cheltenham direct services do not operate on a Sunday with the exception of the 1733 Paddington to Cheltenham, at all other hours on a Sunday its a shuttle service to/from Swindon only.

The Planner · 2026-10-18T16:06:57+0100

mikeb42 said:
They have form for it in this locale.

Just a year or so back there was a full weekend closure of the M4 in both directions between Bristol and Bath which caused absolute gridlock. NR had scheduled a simultaneous full weekend closure of at least the line Between Bristol Parkway and Swindon and, as I recall it, Bristol Parkway itself and all routes through it.

It would be nice to be able to sincerely say it is beyond belief, but bitter experience dictates otherwise.

These large operations must be planned months or years in advance. How it's possible that major public bodies in receipt of enormous amounts of public money don't see fit to coordinate such things in the interests of their paymasters (i.e. us) it's hard to know.

Given the cavalier way that the Highways Agency externalises costs onto us (again) for its own convenience via the increasingly ridiculous way it carries out works on the trunk road network, my money is on them being even more likely than NR to be the culprit in both cases.

Depends how far out National Highways plan. NR are already well into 2028 planning.

The exile · 2026-10-19T08:39:17+0100

mikeb42 said:
They have form for it in this locale.

Just a year or so back there was a full weekend closure of the M4 in both directions between Bristol and Bath which caused absolute gridlock. NR had scheduled a simultaneous full weekend closure of at least the line Between Bristol Parkway and Swindon and, as I recall it, Bristol Parkway itself and all routes through it.

It would be nice to be able to sincerely say it is beyond belief, but bitter experience dictates otherwise.

These large operations must be planned months or years in advance. How it's possible that major public bodies in receipt of enormous amounts of public money don't see fit to coordinate such things in the interests of their paymasters (i.e. us) it's hard to know.

Given the cavalier way that the Highways Agency externalises costs onto us (again) for its own convenience via the increasingly ridiculous way it carries out works on the trunk road network, my money is on them being even more likely than NR to be the culprit in both cases.

To be fair, the bridge removals that have closed the M5 probably just about make it into the “emergency” category. Originally scheduled for 2029, there was serious concern about what frost damage in the coming winter might do to them. Next two weeks are half term and after that we’re already potentially into the frost period.

NickBucks · 2026-10-19T11:25:52+0100

Top marks to National Highways who completed the job on the M5 early and got the road opened by late Sunday evening.

National Highways have previous in this respect. The work they are doing on the A417 reconstruction in the same area is an example of excellent project management.

Can the same be said of Network Rail ?

The exile · 2026-10-19T11:30:15+0100

NickBucks said:
Top marks to National Highways who completed the job on the M5 early and got the road opened by late Sunday evening.National Highways have previous in this respect.The work they are doing on the A417 reconstruction in the same area is an example of excellent project management.Can the same be said of Network Rail ?

Probably - given the fact that we tend not to notice the projects completed on time and with no fuss. One could of course raise questions about asset management, both in respect of these bridges and the A432 - but that’s a problem with NR as well.

edwin_m · 2026-10-19T12:10:53+0100

I assume this is the couple of motorway overbridges where bits of the edge of the deck below the parapet fence had clearly broken off and potentially more was at risk of falling onto the motorway traffic.

If highway work finishes early it's easy enough to re-open the road before the published time, and given that the published time will include some contingency then early reopening is quite likely. A railway may reopen early for similar reasons but it's less likely that passengers will see any benefit, because of the complications of re-routeing trains at short notice.

Horizon22 · 2026-10-19T12:16:58+0100

Just out of interest, how often do the two routinely talk with regards to engineering works / event planning etc. I wouldn't be surprised if it was less than people think.

Bald Rick · 2026-10-19T19:26:16+0100

Horizon22 said:
Just out of interest, how often do the two routinely talk with regards to engineering works / event planning etc. I wouldn't be surprised if it was less than people think.

At local level, all the time.

edwin_m · 2026-10-19T19:58:46+0100

On the weekend of 31st October there are no trains between Parkway and Swindon or Gloucester. The connection from the M4 westbound to the M5 northbound remains closed, forcing traffic to U-turn at Aztec West, which when I passed by last Monday was completely jamming up the area.

Gloucester to Worcester Parkway Closed this Weekend - As Is the M5 Passing Gloucester!

Envoy

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LNW-GW Joint

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Harpo

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popeter45

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mikeb42

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ValleyLines142

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The Planner

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The exile

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The exile

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edwin_m

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Horizon22

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edwin_m

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