Passengers are being urged to check before they travel between South Wales and Bristol in July when Network Rail will be replacing track that runs through the Severn Tunnel.
The tunnel will be closed, with trains diverted or replaced by buses, between Wednesday 3 July and Thursday 18 July inclusive as engineers work around the clock in challenging conditions.
They will be replacing 7km of track – the entire length of the South Wales-bound side – by installing 66 rails, each 216m in length.
The team will also be installing 10,800 sleepers and more than 22,000 tonnes of new ballast (track stone), as well as removing 21,000 tonnes of spoil.
In addition, 900m of track will be replaced at Cattybrook, Almondsbury, and more than 230m of track drainage will be replaced at Patchway Gap – between the two Patchway tunnels near Bristol.
The Severn Tunnel will also be closed for follow-up work on the weekends of 27-28 July and 24-25 August.
Salt water makes for a corrosive environment inside the tunnel and track that would usually last 25 years elsewhere on the railway needs to be replaced every ten years.
In 2022, Network Rail replaced 3km of track on the Bristol-bound side of the tunnel, and another 3.2km of track on that side was replaced last June. This year’s work will focus on replacing the entire track in the opposite direction, bringing more reliable journeys for passengers and reducing emergency closures for track repair work.
A limited replacement bus service will run, with passengers being encouraged to travel by train via Gloucester.
www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk