Cardiff - Portsmouth random engineering work days

[Snow1964]

I realise there are limited numbers of engineering resources, and this affects when work can be done, but spare a thought for Cardiff-Portsmouth.

In a most passenger unfriendly way, have picked every day of the week during 2026, some weekdays, some weekends, some school terms, some school holidays. Even a 3 day closure first weekend of May to coincide with the major summer cruise season changeover days.

2026 : random day of week includes

Sunday 1 Feb (1 day)
suspended Salisbury - Southampton

Saturday 7 - Sunday 8 Feb (2 days)
suspended Warminster - Salisbury

Sunday 15 Feb, Saturday 21 - Sunday 22 Feb (1 + 2 days)
Diverted via Eastleigh, not serving Southampton

Mon 16 - Fri 20 March & Sun 29 March (5 + 1 days)
Only 2 or 4 tracks Newport-Cardiff, some timings changed, some trains not beyond Bristol

Saturday 28 March to Thursday 2 April (6 days)
Suspended Fareham - Portsmouth

Saturday 21 - Sunday 22 March (2 days)
suspended Bristol - Cardiff

Saturday 11 April - Sunday 12 April (2 days)
suspended in Southampton area

Saturday 2 - Monday 4 May (3 days)
suspended Bath Spa - Westbury

Saturday 23 May - Monday 8 June and Sunday 14 June (17 + 1 days)
suspended Bristol - Cardiff

Sunday 5 July (1 day)
suspended Southampton to Portsmouth

Monday 26 Oct - Wednesday 28 October (3 days)
suspended Bath Spa to Bristol

Monday 26 to Friday 30 October (5 days)
suspended Fareham to Portsmouth

This really seems to be tough mixture, almost as if the engineers thought it fun to give it a few weeks after disruption to allow passengers to return, then disrupt again.

Over 50 days in a year of disruption to a line (and it's not like it is getting any upgrades, faster track, electrification, longer platforms etc), basically just work for no improvements for passengers.

Wondered if others think this schedule seems reasonable.

 

[The Planner]

This really seems to be tough mixture, almost as if the engineers thought it fun to give it a few weeks after disruption to allow passengers to return, then disrupt again.

Over 50 days in a year of disruption to a line (and it's not like it is getting any upgrades, faster track, electrification, longer platforms etc), basically just work for no improvements for passengers.

Wondered if others think this schedule seems reasonable.

GWR could have quite easily have said no to it all. Why does everything have to be an enhancement, renewals to keep the railway going are effectively more important.

 

[Thames99]

Is it PR speak to talk of enhancements? Maybe a lot of this is maintenance, track renewals etc. and the closures have been announced in a manner that someone thought most palatable.

Edited to correct misspelling of PR

 

[The exile]

The Cardiff - Ponpey service intersects with 6 radial main lines, all of which have their own needs to avoid clashes of engineering work etc. it can’t be perfect everywhere - something has to give.

 

[Snow1964]

The Cardiff - Ponpey service intersects with 6 radial main lines, all of which have their own needs to avoid clashes of engineering work etc. it can’t be perfect everywhere - something has to give.

Are you saying because it is not a mainline from London, has to have rubbish engineering work timetable, that cannot be bettered.

Clearly there are mainlines to/from London, which get pick of the work slots. But if secondary, across the country routes (eg Cardiff-Portsmouth, Transpennine, Bristol-Birmingham, Birmingham-Derby or East-West Rail etc) have to fit in, however much it disrupts through trains, is that really a good enough aspiration.

Is the inconsistency of some work midweek, some at weekends, good enough planning, surely the quieter days do not vary every few weeks, and should be aiming for quietist times to do all work.

 

[The exile]

Is the inconsistency of some work midweek, some at weekends, good enough planning, surely the quieter days do not vary every few weeks, and should be aiming for quietist times to do all work.

Don’t see anything random about picking holiday periods for work that can’t take place at weekends, which is what that list seems to show.
There may be no actual “improvements” but we passengers would soon notice a deterioration if the work didn’t get done.

 

[Snow1964]

Don’t see anything random about picking holiday periods for work that can’t take place at weekends, which is what that list seems to show.
There may be no actual “improvements” but we passengers would soon notice a deterioration if the work didn’t get done.

My experience of Cardiff-Portsmouth is it is more a leisure route, than a commuter route. So how does picking holiday periods help ?

 

[OxtedL]

35 of the 50 days quoted only impact one end of the line or the other?
Bristol - Cardiff / Fareham - Portsmouth
Most passengers using the through service not likely to be affected by a closure at one end, I think?

 

[Zomboid]

you saying because it is not a mainline from London, has to have rubbish engineering work timetable, that cannot be bettered

It is impacted by works that take place on the various main lines.

What alternative would you suggest? Ensuring that works on the GWML. Berks & Hants, West of England and Bournemouth lines are all scheduled simultaneously to limit the impact on an hourly service that runs mainly on secondary routes?

 

[Watershed]

It is impacted by works that take place on the various main lines.

What alternative would you suggest? Ensuring that works on the GWML. Berks & Hants, West of England and Bournemouth lines are all scheduled simultaneously to limit the impact on an hourly service that runs mainly on secondary routes?

Coordination of engineering works on a given date/weekend is very much a thing already. Great efforts are taken to ensure the ECML and WCML aren't both blocked at the same time, for example. It just doesn't seem to be particularly well coordinated across different weekends for cross-route services like this.

 

[The exile]

My experience of Cardiff-Portsmouth is it is more a leisure route, than a commuter route. So how does picking holiday periods help ?

Look where the weekday closures are. Major commuter (and no doubt schools) flows, best done in holiday periods. Any time is a bad time for someone, but the work has got to be done. And what’s the alternative? Putting them all in the same two week period, thus rendering almost all parts of the route unusable at once, might sound at least like getting it over with but could well overstrain the pool of replacement buses and drivers, not to mention requiring engineering teams and equipment to be in two places at once when they can’t even get the equipment from one to the other because some other team is blocking the bit in the middle?

 

[Zomboid]

Coordination of engineering works on a given date/weekend is very much a thing already. Great efforts are taken to ensure the ECML and WCML aren't both blocked at the same time, for example. It just doesn't seem to be particularly well coordinated across different weekends for cross-route services like this.

That's kind of the point. You wouldn't schedule it so that every route heading towards the south west from London was closed at the same time, so the Cardiff to Portsmouth service is likely to be impacted more often as it interfaces with so many radial routes.

 

[Benjwri]

18 of the days you mention are from the Severn Tunnel closure, which also affects the GWML and makes up a large chunk of the time. A bunch of the rest are for the Portsmouth Direct Upgrade. It just so happens that they both fall on the route. Then add in normal engineering works and you reach your 50.

It’s by far not the only line. London to wales is disrupted for nearly 50 days just in this summer between the Severn Tunnel and Chipping Sodbury closures.

The only thing I will give you is that it is less frequently diverted around engineering (Although you’d included times it was diverted in your 50), however diversionary routes have limited capacity, and would you rather swap to a 9 car IET or try get on a 3 car turbo with a 9 car IET’s passengers at Cardiff?

 

[The exile]

The only thing I will give you is that it is less frequently diverted around engineering (Although you’d included times it was diverted in your 50), however diversionary routes have limited capacity, and would you rather swap to a 9 car IET or try get on a 3 car turbo with a 9 car IET’s passengers at Cardiff?

Opportunities for diversion are pretty limited and would not be without impact on other services. If those diversions mean missing out either Temple Meads or Bath if they could otherwise be served, then they are pretty counterproductive.

 

[Benjwri]

Opportunities for diversion are pretty limited and would not be without impact on other services. If those diversions mean missing out either Temple Meads or Bath if they could otherwise be served, then they are pretty counterproductive.

Absolutely. I think the one I had in mind was via Gloucester, but as I mentioned capacity is limited and sending an IET is better.

 

[The exile]

Absolutely. I think the one I had in mind was via Gloucester, but as I mentioned capacity is limited and sending an IET is better.

Not that there was anything this time that was diverted Bristol - Gloucester - Newport. Presumably the combination of journey time extension and lack of paths put the kybosh on that.

 

[The Planner]

Is the inconsistency of some work midweek, some at weekends, good enough planning, surely the quieter days do not vary every few weeks, and should be aiming for quietist times to do all work.

Everyone wants work done at the quietest times, where is all the resource coming from at tbe quiet passenger periods and what are you doing with that resource when its a busy period? You have to spread it to be efficient.

 

[The exile]

Everyone wants work done at the quietest times, where is all the resource coming from at tbe quiet passenger periods and what are you doing with that resource when its a busy period? You have to spread it to be efficient.

And the so-called “inconsistency” is down to the simple fact that you can’t do everything in a one or two day weekend possession- so the next choice is holiday periods when fewer people have to travel to work /school /college etc.

 

[Bald Rick]

Wondered if others think this schedule seems reasonable.

Myview on reasonableness or not is irrelevant, as I don’t use the line.

What percentage of passengers using the Cardiff - Portsmouth service are going to be affected by more than 1 in 5 of these disruptive works?

 

[The exile]

I haven’t actually checked, but I suspect that if you checked that other long distance route that serves 7 cities without being InterCity (Liverpool - Norwich) you’d find a similar pattern.