Transport for Wales is issuing the advice due to some timetable changes taking place over the bank holiday weekend across the Wales and Borders network.

Easter bank holiday weekend will see Transport for Wales undertake important infrastructure upgrades for the Core Valley Lines network for the South Wales Metro which will mean that buses will replace rail services for some routes.

Passengers travelling on the Wales and Borders network are advised to check their travel plans ahead of leaving for their journey.

Buses will replace trains between: 

• Pontypridd and Cardiff Central on Saturday the 8th and Sunday the 9th of April.
• Pontypridd and Treherbert from late on Sunday the 9th until Thursday the 13th of April.
• Ystrad Mynach and Rhymney from late on Monday the 10th to Thursday the 13th of April.

The work marks the start of a number of line closures through the Valleys network which will take place over the coming weeks in order to allow transformation work to be carried out. The closures will also see the line between Pontypridd and Treherbert closed from the 30th of April which will be ongoing until the early part of 2024. During April and May the commissioning of new signalling will be taking place as part of the South Wales Metro bringing substantial changes to services and affecting Cardiff to Pontypridd, Merthyr and Aberdare lines.

To find out more about transformation work and service changes, please click here.

Transport for Wales is also advising passengers travelling in other parts of the Wales and Borders region of very busy services and reduced timetables which will affect other routes due to engineering work and ongoing fleet maintenance for the Class 175 trains.

Jan Chaudhry-Van der Velde, Chief Operations Officer at Transport for Wales, said: “We’d like to thank our customers for their continued patience while the vital transformation work takes place on the Valleys lines and as we continue to work to resolve the issues with our Class 175 trains.

“Our Class 175 trains have been receiving urgent safety checks and engine repairs, which has left us with a temporary shortage of rolling stock across the network. This has meant we have had to redistribute rolling stock to affect the minimum number of passengers possible, leading to replacement buses on some routes.

“As the Class 175s work through the repair programme over the next two weeks, the rolling stock shortages should ease, and the timetabled service can be restored.”

Rail services on the Borderlands Line between Wrexham and Bidston have now been restarted by Transport for Wales after the first of the Class 230 battery-hybrid trains entered service on Monday the 3rd of April. Services have also been reinstated for the Chester to Liverpool route on the 5th of April.

Transport for Wales aims to get services on the Conwy Valley Line back in operation on Saturday the 8th of April with further brand new Class 197s set to enter service.

Passengers travelling using services in the Conwy Valley and Pembrokeshire are encouraged to make use of the fflecsi service in order to visit Wales’ most popular tourist hot spots. Transport for Wales ‘from station to location’ campaign provided details of how to travel to locations such as St David’s in Pembrokeshire or Betws-y-Coed by booking a fflecsi bus.

Transport for Wales is also collaborating with Visit Wales as part of its Year of Trails campaign in order to raise awareness of the many fantastic walking routes throughout Wales which are easily accessed from railway stations, to find out more about the campaign please click here.