Bristol Temple Meads upheaval ends as upgrade work completed

A £140m scheme to increase capacity into Bristol Temple Meads station is due to be completed by the weekend.

Passengers have faced eight weeks of bus replacement services and timetable changes while the work was carried out.

Along with replacing the 1960s track, engineers also installed new signalling equipment just north of the station to allow more trains to enter and leave.

Network Rail said it has had complaints from passengers but engineers had worked 24/7 to complete the upgrade.

Work to improve the track layout on the approach to Bristol Temple Meads was started on 10 July.

The scheme, which has been 10 years in the planning, was carried out to "reduce congestion and help make journeys more reliable".

Mike Gallop, from Network Rail, said engineers had completely removed the Bristol East Junction and replaced it with brand new rails, signalling equipment and infrastructure.

"It's going to deliver a more reliable service for passengers and also enable us to grow the railway into and out of Bristol," he said.

"But the big change will come in December when we change the timetable, and then we're going to be running more trains to places like Westbury and Gloucester and south Wales."

The track upgrade is part of the wider Bristol Rail Regeneration programme which also involves "extensive refurbishment" of the Grade I station.

Bristol Temple Meads station is due to reopen from Saturday.

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