Rail passengers travelling from Cheltenham Spa are facing a second week of disruption after engineering work on Gloucester’s signal box overran, leaving major routes without trains on Monday and Tuesday.
What Happened
Gloucester station has been closed since Saturday 27 September to allow engineers to replace more than 10,000 wires inside its 1960s-built signal box — one of the oldest pieces of electrical signalling equipment on the national network. The work was due to be completed before the start of this week, but testing the new equipment is taking far longer than planned, Network Rail confirmed on Monday morning.
The overrun means trains cannot run on a range of routes through Gloucester until at least Wednesday 8 October, with services not expected to return to their normal timetable immediately even once the lines reopen.
Affected Routes
A limited rail replacement bus service is operating on Tuesday 7 October on the following routes:
- Cheltenham Spa to Gloucester and Lydney
- Cheltenham Spa to Gloucester and Bristol Parkway
- Cheltenham Spa to Gloucester and Kemble
- Cheltenham Spa to Worcester Shrub Hill
Passengers are warned that the bus replacements will reduce available parking at Cheltenham Spa, Gloucester, Bristol Parkway and Stroud stations. GWR, CrossCountry and Transport for Wales services are all affected.
What Network Rail and Operators Said
Network Rail’s Western route director Marcus Jones apologised for the additional disruption. “Replacing this very old signalling equipment is an extremely complex task and our engineers are working around the clock to complete this vital work,” he said. “Safety is always our number one priority and we need to make sure the new equipment is thoroughly tested and ready to use before we reopen the railway.”
GWR station manager for the Cheltenham and Gloucester area, Chloe Coglan, said the operator could not run any trains between Gloucester and Worcester Shrub Hill, Kemble or Bristol Parkway on Monday and Tuesday. CrossCountry’s regional director Georgia Ehrmann said services through Cheltenham to the South West would resume as soon as the railway lines reopened.
Background
Gloucester’s signal box controls trains running from Bristol, Swindon, Worcester and south Wales, making it one of the most critical relay points in the region. Engineers have installed over 12 miles of new wiring during the closure — an upgrade intended to keep the network running safely for decades. The sheer volume and complexity of the wiring, however, has made safe commissioning of the new system more time-consuming than originally forecast.
What Happens Next
Trains are expected to resume on Wednesday 8 October, though services will remain disrupted through that day as rolling stock repositions following the extended closure. Passengers travelling on Monday and Tuesday are advised to check their journey via the National Rail Enquiries website or with their train operator before setting out.
This is a developing story. Updates will be added as the engineering work progresses.
