Network Rail will be carrying out planned drainage improvement work in the Chipping Sodbury area, which will affect Great Western Railway services.

From the 7th – 13th July and on 20th July, services between Swindon and Bristol Parkway will be disrupted while work is completed.

They will be carrying out tunnel drainage work and will be raising the track level to help prevent disruptions due to flooding, which has happened numerous times in the past few years.

On the first days of disruption (7th-13th), services between London and South Wales will run hourly using an alternative route, running via Bath. This will extend services by 30 minutes.

There will be some additional services running Monday to Friday during peak times that will operate between London Paddington and Swindon.

On the 20th July, services between London and South Wales will run via Gloucester until 3 pm, which will extend services by an hour.

Further work to renew a section of track in the Patchway area will also affect services between Bristol and South Wales, meaning that Sunday’s diverted trains won’t stop at Bristol Parkway.

From 3 pm, services will divert to Bath instead of Gloucester, extending journeys by 30 minutes.

Those travelling between South Wales and Bristol can change at Cheltenham Spa or Gloucester for other services running to/from South Wales.

There will be some replacement buses in place between Bristol Parkway and Newport, however, these are limited.

Additionally, valid rail tickets can be used on the m4 Metrobus services between Patchway and Bristol Parkway.

“This work forms part of an ongoing programme of investment, helping to ensure we can continue to provide consistent and reliable services.

“To maintain rail connections to and from South Wales, some of our trains will use a different route from normal – making journeys longer.

“Unfortunately, this also means the frequency of services between London and South Wales also has to be cut from half-hourly to hourly.

“However, we will provide some additional train services between London Paddington and Swindon Monday to Friday at peak periods.

“It’s important customers are aware the arrangements in place will extend their journey times, so please plan ahead.”

Marcus Deegan, Station Manager for Bristol Parkway