Railway passengers are being warned to expect disruption as a result of major engineering works being carried out in the north Bristol area over the next six months.

From Saturday 28th to Monday 30th May, the railway between Bristol Temple Meads, Bristol Parkway, Gloucester and Severn Tunnel Junction will be closed, with many services being amended or replaced by buses.

The closure is necessary to allow Network Rail carry out major signal improvements at Filton Bank, which is being upgraded to four tracks, allowing slower local trains to run on their own tracks without hindering or affecting the frequency of new high-speed electric trains that are to be introduced as part of Network Rail’s £40bn Railway Upgrade Plan.

A further closure associated with this work is expected to take place over the late August bank holiday weekend (27th to 29th August).

This will be followed by a six week closure of the line between Bristol and South Wales, from 12th September to 21st October, to allow the 130-year-old Severn and Patchway tunnels to be prepared for electrification.

This work will involve installing conductor beams in both tunnels to power the new fleet of electric trains that will run underneath. To install this beam in the Severn tunnel, four tonnes of soot needs to be removed and extensive improvements made to the brick work.

Mark Langman, Network Rail’s managing director for the Western route, said:

“Electrification has many long-term benefits including faster, more frequent trains and a boost to economic growth in towns and cities across the whole of the Western route and beyond.”

“I’d like to thank passengers in advance for their patience and understanding while we deliver the essential upgrades needed to prepare these tunnels for electrification and the benefits this will bring.”

As previously reported, Network Rail is also currently carrying out potentially noisy piling works in the Little Stoke and Patchway areas. This work, associated with the installation of overhead wires, is taking place on Saturday nights and is expected to continue until October.

More information:

• GWR.com/Filton2016
• GWR.com/SevernTunnel2016

This article originally appeared in the May 2016 edition of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine, delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.

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A local gymnastics club based at Patchway Sports Centre has had a major success with two of its gymnasts receiving medals at the recent Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships in Putian, China.

Harriers Acrobatic Gymnastics is a relatively small club which also trains at Little Stoke Primary School, but its gymnasts Kenedi Cross, aged 15, and Vada Finniear, aged 18, have made it big this year by winning a bronze medal in acro-gymnastics, which is performed in pairs with no apparatus. They were competing in the class for Mixed Pair Ages 13-19. The pair train at Harriers with their coach, Sarah Bateman.

The Journal previously reported on Kenedi and Vada in September 2015, when they competed in the European Championships in Reisa, Germany, but they were left disappointed as an injury prevented them from completing the competition. Kenedi’s mum, Teresa Cross, tells us that their club deserves recognition because “it has very limited facilities, with no sprung floor” which means Kenedi and Vada can only train around 12 hours per week, in contrast to the 20+ hours that is possible at larger clubs. Despite this, both competitors as well as their coach, Sarah Bateman, were selected for team GB this year. They were asked to trial for team GB last year due to their history of successes in national competitions, although they were unable to finish at the European Championships. About their success this year, Teresa says, “we were all ecstatic” as they “got back up to full fitness”.

The Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships involved 12 pairs competing in qualifying rounds over two days. Kenedi and Vada received the highest marks for balance, and secured fifth place to go into the finals. Teresa Cross says it was “nail biting” as they had to compete against the European Champions from Portugal.

More: Pair are "proud of achievements, coach and club" »

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