Disruption for passengers as Craven Arms railway upgrade begins this weekend

Passengers are being urged to check before travelling between Shrewsbury and Newport in south Wales as Network Rail Wales and Borders will be delivering improvements to track and signalling equipment in the Craven Arms area over the next four weekends.

Rail replacement buses will operate between Hereford and Shrewsbury on 29 & 30 September and 6 & 7 October, and between Newport and Shrewsbury on 13 & 14 and 20 & 21 October.

Long Lane Level Crossing, neighbouring Craven Arms Station, will also be closed to road and foot traffic over these weekends, from late on the Friday night to early on the Monday morning. A signposted diversion will be in place.

Paul Armitage, project manager for Network Rail Wales and Borders, said: “The improvements being delivered in the Craven Arms area involve both the removal of old, life-expired railway equipment and the installation of new, with work planned on all railway lines running into and out of Craven Arms station. The result will be upgraded equipment - fit for a modern railway - and more reliable journeys for passengers.

“We have been working closely with transport operators to make sure passengers can still get to where they need to be during the upgrade work and urge passengers to check before travelling. We would like to thank our neighbours and passengers for bearing with us as we deliver this essential railway upgrade work."

Gareth Thomas, Arriva Trains Wales Director, said: “This investment by our partners in Network Rail will help improve performance and reliability at a very important point in the rail network.

“We would like to thank customers for their patience as there will be some disruption to their journeys while this work is going on and urge them to check their journeys prior to travel for the latest information.”

The £3.5m investment will involve upgrading the old signalling system as well as replacing points -the movable sections of track – which will allow trains to move between the Heart of Wales line and the Newport to Shrewsbury line. Once complete, the work will enable a more reliable and robust railway for passengers, as well as allow for more flexibility in times of train congestion.

During the weekends, work will be taking place from the early hours of Saturday morning to early hours on the Monday morning, due to the volume of work required in these short periods of time.

Passengers can check how their journey is affected via nationalrail.co.uk.