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 due to ongoing bridge work, there are no direct trains from Cardiff to Ebbw Vale this week, meaning passengers will need to change at Newport.

Bus replacements also remain on the Caerphilly line, but an hourly rail service resumed on the Coryton Line on Wednesday.

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

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.

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".