Commuters and music fans warned as Severn Tunnel faces 15 day closure

The main rail connection between Bristol and South Wales will be closed for more than two weeks next month, with a warning from rail bosses to commuters and music fans heading into Wales to check before they travel.

Network Rail is closing the Severn Tunnel, which connects Bristol Temple Meads and Parkway stations with Newport, Cardiff and the rest of South Wales, to renew and replace the track inside the tunnel.

The closure is happening between Wednesday, July 3 and Thursday, July 18 - and for those 15 days, passengers will either see diverted trains up to Gloucester, or be put on rail replacement buses and go on the M4 and M48 instead.

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In those 15 days, there are significant events taking place in both Chepstow and Cardiff - with thousands of music fans from Bristol and the West of England expected to make the trip across the Severn to attend.

There are performances by The National, Manic Street Preachers and Suede, JLS, Bristol alt-punk stars Idles, Rick Astley, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Madness taking place in a series of gigs at Cardiff Castle while the rail closure is in effect. And there are also performances by Shania Twain, Tom Jones and Hozier at Chepstow Racecourse that will attract fans from Bristol.

The work by Network Rail will replace the entire 7km of track on the South Wales-bound side, with the installation of 66 rails, each 216 metres long. Inside the tunnel, the workers will also be installing 10,800 sleepers and more than 22,000 tonnes of new ballast underneath it all, while removing almost the same amount of spoil.

There is also good news for commuters in north Bristol - the closure will allow almost a kilometre of the track near Almondsbury to be replaced, and 230 metres of drainage will be replaced at the Patchway Gap, between the two tunnels in Patchway, which has been troubled by flooding in recent winters.

When the closure is over on July 18, the job won’t be completely done - the tunnel will be closed again over the last weekend of July - July 27 and 28 - and again on the weekend of August 24 and 25.

Passengers wanting to travel by rail across the Severn Estuary between England and Wales will be directed to trains to Gloucester instead, with a ‘limited’ rail replacement bus service in place.

“We recognise there is never a good time to close the Severn Tunnel, but we have planned this essential work to minimise disruption as much as possible,” said Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director.

“Our dedicated teams will be working 24/7 in challenging conditions to deliver the largest track replacement in the tunnel for many years, which is vital for the continued safe and reliable running of train services along this busy route.

“We would like to thank passengers for their patience – and urge them to check their journeys before they travel,” he added.

Marcus Deegan, GWR’s station manager for Bristol Parkway and Swindon, said trains to Gloucester will be the alternative for weekday commuters, with rail replacement buses running on Sundays.

“This rail improvement work forms part of an important programme of maintenance to help ensure we can continue to provide customers with consistent and reliable services,” he said.

“To maintain rail connections to and from South Wales, some of our trains will use a different route from normal, via Gloucester, making journeys slightly longer,” he added.

“We can only provide a limited replacement bus service between Bristol Parkway and Severn Tunnel Junction in the morning and the evening Monday to Saturday. So instead, we’re asking customers in the Bristol area to stay on the train and to change at Gloucester for train services to South Wales, and vice versa.

“There will be a full rail replacement service on Sundays between Bristol Parkway and Newport as fewer trains will run between Bristol and Gloucester,” he added.

Replacement bus services will generally be in operation in early mornings and late evenings from Monday to Saturday with some Sunday journeys, and customers travelling between South Wales and Bristol will need to travel to Gloucester, changing trains as required, to complete their journeys, a GWR spokesperson said. Limited replacement buses are planned between: Bristol Parkway and Severn Tunnel Junction (Monday to Saturday), Bristol Parkway to Newport (Sundays only). Transport for Wales and CrossCountry trains to and from South Wales via Gloucester/Cheltenham Spa are unaffected.