Network Rail closes Vale of Glamorgan line for a week of track and switch renewals

Network Rail will close the Vale of Glamorgan line between Cardiff and Bridgend for a week from Sunday 25 October to Sunday 1 November 2026 to renew track at Llantwit Major and switches and crossings at Cogan.

The programme, announced by Network Rail on 22 October and by Transport for Wales (TfW) the following day, also includes track work between Grangetown and Eastbrook. Network Rail said teams would carry out a range of other maintenance activities while the railway is shut so that several jobs are completed at once.

The railway between Cardiff Central and Penarth, Barry, Barry Island and Bridgend via the Vale of Glamorgan line will be closed from 10pm on Sunday 25 October until the end of service on Sunday 1 November, according to TfW.

The TfW release attributes the explanation of the closure to a Network Rail spokesperson, while Network Rail's own release gives the same words to Martin Taylor, Chief Infrastructure Officer for the Wales and Borders route. The statement said: "Closing the line for a week gives our teams the time they need to carry out several important pieces of work at locations across the Vale of Glamorgan line", rather than spreading them over a number of weekends.

Network Rail said the investment is intended to improve the safety, reliability and long-term performance of the route for passengers and freight. Neither release gives a cost for the work, names a contractor or sets out the quantity of track to be replaced.

Replacement buses

Buses will run on three routes during the closure: Cardiff Central to Penarth, Cardiff Central to Barry and Barry Island, and Cardiff Central to Bridgend via the Vale of Glamorgan line. TfW advised passengers to check journeys before travelling and to allow extra time.

Sarah Higgins, Operations Director at Transport for Wales, said: "We recognise work of this nature is disruptive and takes place during schools' half-term, but it has been scheduled to take place when there are expected to be fewer people travelling than usual."

A run of interventions on the route

The week-long possession follows three weekends of Network Rail work on the separate Cardiff to Bridgend route via Pontyclun, announced on 16 September 2026. On each of those weekends the Pontyclun line was closed from 01.20 on Saturday until 04.05 on Monday, with the last running from Saturday 17 to Monday 19 October. The October weekend included track renewal and rail replacement between Cardiff West Junction and St Fagans and between Miskin and Pontyclun.

Martin Taylor, Chief Infrastructure Officer at Network Rail Wales and Borders, said at the time that the three weekends gave teams an opportunity to carry out a significant package of work.

The Vale of Glamorgan line itself has seen repeated engineering possessions in recent years. In May and June 2023 Network Rail, working with contractor Colas Rail, removed and replaced track and ballast at Llantwit Major and Boverton, the same location as this month's track replacement. That core work ran from Saturday 27 May to midday on Sunday 4 June 2023.

In July 2025 Network Rail carried out a week of drainage and track maintenance between Barry and Bridgend, suspending services between Rhoose, Cardiff International Airport and Bridgend from 10pm on Sunday 13 July to 5.10am on Saturday 19 July.

Background

Passenger services returned to the Vale of Glamorgan line under a scheme costing in the region of £17m, announced by Network Rail in April 2004. According to Network Rail, it was the first time passenger trains had run on the route since the early 1960s. The scheme included new stations at Llantwit Major and Rhoose, was funded by the National Assembly for Wales and had its contracts managed by Network Rail.

Trains are due to resume on the Vale of Glamorgan line after the end of service on Sunday 1 November 2026.