PASSENGERS travelling between Cardiff and Newport next weekend are being advised to check before they travel as Network Rail carries out essential improvement work to improve the reliability of services across South Wales for passengers.

All railway lines between Cardiff Central and Newport will be closed on Saturday 27 June and Sunday 28 June so essential work can be carried out to replace life-expired signalling equipment between Cardiff East and Newport West.

This will affect services between South Wales and London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and North Wales.

A frequent replacement bus service will run between Cardiff Central and Newport in both directions. The bus stop for Cardiff Central will be on Penarth Rd at the rear car park exit and the bus stop for Newport will be on Godfrey Rd at the car park exit.

The work is part of a project to modernise the railway in South Wales, which includes replacing ageing signalling equipment, enhancing track layouts, building new platforms and improving stations.

Network Rail is working to deliver a bigger, better railway, bringing a number of benefits for passengers and supporting the growth of the local economy. Passenger numbers are set to continue growing and this means that we need to enable more trains to run into Cardiff.

Christian Irwin, senior project manager for Network Rail Wales, said: “We are carrying out a highly complex project to re-signal the railway in the Cardiff area which will help to improve the reliability of rail services for passengers across South Wales.

“As part of this project we are replacing ageing signalling equipment, enhancing track layouts, building new platforms and improving stations.

“I’d like to apologise to any passengers whose plans are affected by our improvement work, but I hope they will understand that the weekends are quieter time on the railway and we want to minimise the overall impact of this vital project on passengers.”

Passengers should are advised to check journey plans on train operators’ websites or by visiting at www.nationalrail.co.uk.

Members of the public who have questions about the improvement work can call Network Rail’s 24-Hour National Helpline on 03457 11 41 41.