Rail disruption now set to last more than a week

Disruption on some rail services in south Wales will now last over a week and continue until Monday morning as repair work on a railway bridge continues.

Many journeys were suspended or cancelled due to work on the bridge outside Cardiff Central station between Sunday and Tuesday.

Transport for Wales (TfW) and Network Rail, which owns and operates most of the rail infrastructure in the UK, said mainline services in and out of Cardiff had largely returned to normal by Tuesday evening.

But work on the bridge will continue this week and bus replacements or diverted lines would remain in place until 28 April for services from Cardiff to Ebbw Vale in Blaenau Gwent.

The bridge connects Cardiff Central to Queen Street, running over the lines linking Cardiff Central to Newport and beyond.

An inspection at the weekend revealed some structural problems and services were immediately suspended due to safety concerns.

Trains will only run between Ebbw Vale and Newport for the remainder of this week, with either bus replacements or diverted train journeys between Newport and Cardiff, the statement said.

Bus replacements are also in place for the Caerphilly and Coryton lines, TfW and Network Rail said.

Additional train services will be added as phases of the work are completed this week, the companies added.

It follows three days of disruption caused by the work to the bridge, which affected a number of routes run by Great Western Railway, TfW and CrossCountry.

Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd Delyth Jewell said the ongoing issues with rail infrastructure were "a symptom of Wales' history of being short-changed when it comes to rail funding".

Conservative transport spokesman Peter Fox said commuters had "every right to feel frustrated, especially after a 6% rise in ticket prices this year".

Wales' Transport Minister Ken Skates said TfW was "working closely with Network Rail and Amey Infrastructure Wales to resolve this urgent mater as soon as is safely possible".