OREANDA-NEWS. Newport residents, road users and railway passengers are invited to attend a series of drop-in events to find out more about the work to prepare the railway under the Bridge Street road bridge for a new fleet of electric trains.

The arrival of the new trains will provide faster, greener, quieter and more reliable journeys for passengers every day across the South Wales Mainline as well as helping to stimulate economic growth by better connecting towns and cities in South Wales and beyond.

The first event will take place at Newport indoor market between 10.30am and 2.30pm on Tuesday 15 March. Members of the Network Rail project team will be on-hand to answer any questions about the works and to explain how electrification will benefit both railway neighbours and passengers.

The bridge in Newport city centre which dates back to 1911 will be replaced with a brand new structure, fit for modern day city centre traffic and will provide increased accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists. To safely complete the upgrade work the road over the bridge will be closed to all traffic from 3 May 2016 until late 2016.

Andrew Griffiths, programme manager for Network Rail said: ‘‘Electrifying the railway will mean less noise and pollution for those who live close to the railway line in and around Newport. The increasing numbers of passengers using the railway will also benefit from faster, quieter, more reliable services once this programme of work is completed as part of our ?40bn Railway Upgrade Plan.

‘‘We would like to thank the general public in advance for their patience while this essential upgrade work is completed.’’

The scheme to replace the Bridge Street bridge involves a complex and substantial construction programme which will first see the utilities that are currently buried in the road diverted into a temporary supporting structure.  Following this the old bridge will be demolished, before the new bridge is rebuilt in its place. 

A diversionary route will be in place for vehicles for the duration of the project and pedestrians can use the neighbouring Tunnel Terrace footbridge. Network Rail has worked closely with Newport City Council on an appropriate diversion route to minimise disruption to the general public as much as possible.

The Railway Upgrade Plan is Network Rail’s ?40bn spending plan for Britain’s railways for the five year period up to 31 March 2019. The plan is designed to provide more capacity, relieve crowding and respond to tremendous growth the railways have seen – a doubling of passengers in the past twenty years. The plan will deliver a bigger, better railway with more trains, longer trains, faster trains with more infrastructure, more reliable infrastructure and better facilities for passengers, especially at stations.

About Network Rail

Network Rail owns, manages and develops Britain's railway - the 20,000 miles of track, 40,000 bridges and viaducts, and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations (the largest of which we also run). In partnership with train operators we help people take more than 1.6bn journeys by rail every year - double the number of 1996 - and move hundreds of millions of tonnes of freight, saving almost 8m lorry journeys. We're investing ?40bn in the railway by 2019 through our Railway Upgrade Plan to deliver more frequent, more reliable, safer services and brighter and better stations.