Guest Article – Network Rail
Network Rail will be carrying out essential engineering work, affecting services between Bidston, Wrexham and Shrewsbury from Sunday 16 August to Sunday 30 August.
The following closures will take place:
- Sunday 16 August – Sundy 30 August – Wrexham General/Central to Bidston
- Monday 17 August – Sunday 30 August – Wrexham General to Shrewsbury
These lines will reopen on Monday 31 August.
Network Rail will carry out work to two locations that are repeatedly affected by flooding, near Gobowen and Babbinswood. They’ll also carry out structural repairs and a track replacement on the Hawarden swing bridge and general route improvement work.
Changes to rail services
Bidston to Wrexham General/ Central – Sunday 16 to Sunday 30 August
No trains will run between Wrexham General/Central and Bidston from Sunday 16 August to Sunday 30 August, with train services running as normal from start of service on Monday 31 August.
Rail replacement services: Buses will replace trains between Bidston and Wrexham General/Central, running approximately every 45 minutes from Monday to Saturday, and hourly on Sunday.
Replacement buses will also serve Birkenhead North for connections with Merseyrail services to Liverpool.
Wrexham General to Shrewsbury – Monday 17 to Sunday 30 August
No trains will run between Shrewsbury and Wrexham from Monday 17 to Sunday 30 August, with train services running as normal from start of service on Monday 31 August. Rail services between Crewe and Wrexham General will operate approximately hourly.
Rail Replacement Services: Buses will replace trains between Shrewsbury and Wrexham General, running approximately every hour from Monday to Saturday, and up to two-hourly on Sunday.
Some services will be extended to Chester.
Long distance services between North Wales and Cardiff
Long distance Birmingham/ Cardiff to Holyhead/ Llandudno services will divert via Crewe. Services may take slightly longer than normal, and so we encourage passengers travelling along these routes to check before they travel using the Network Rail website or app.
This also means that the Crewe to Shrewsbury shuttle services will be retimed by approximately 30 minutes.
Cardiff City vs Wrexham AFC Football Fixture – Monday 17 August
The rail closure coincides with Wrexham AFC’s first away fixture of the new season. We’re working hard to support customers travelling to and from the game, including running an additional service from Cardiff to Wrexham, which would be rerouted via Crewe and Chester and so will take slightly longer than normal.
The return journey will leave Cardiff Central at 22:36 and will run to Wrexham General (arrives 02:07) via Shrewsbury (arrives 00:42), Crewe and Chester. A bus service will be provided at Shrewsbury (departing 00:55) travelling to Gobowen, Chirk and Ruabon.
Guidance for passengers using Pay As You Go (PAYG)
Passengers must hold a valid ticket before travelling on replacement bus services teams will be out across the network to provide assistance to passengers. . Revenue protection Pay as you go remains available between Bidston and Wrexham Central. Passengers should tap in and out using station platform validators as usual and can correct missed taps via the TfW app or website following day the . To support customers during the disruption, the monthly missed tap correction limit will be temporarily increased from 6 to 14 in August.
Councillor David A Bithell, Lead Member for Environment, said “These works will unfortunately mean significant disruption for people travelling to and from Wrexham over the next two weeks, so I would encourage passengers to plan their journeys in advance and allow additional time where necessary.
Replacement bus services will be operating on affected routes, but journey times may be longer than usual. Please check the latest travel information before setting off, particularly if you are making a longer journey or travelling to the Wrexham AFC fixture in Cardiff.”
More information on these changes is available on the Transport for Wales website.
