Train services west of Swansea and on the Heart of Wales Line are set to be disrupted on the next two weekends.

Work will take place on Saturday, 15th, Sunday, 16th and Sunday, 23rd February between Swansea and Carmarthen and between Swansea and Llandrindod Wells.

Crucially, no work will take place on Saturday, 22nd February, and train services are scheduled to run that day, which is the day of the Wales v Ireland Six Nations match in Cardiff.

While trains are suspended, a rail-replacement bus service will run all day between Swansea and Carmarthen and between Swansea and Llandrindod Wells on the Heart of Wales Line.

On 15th/16th February, Network Rail engineers will renew 550 metres of track and 310 sleepers and replace 400 tonnes of ballast at Llanelli.

Elsewhere on the line, improvements will be made to signalling at five level crossings and carry out work relating to the Access For All footbridge at Llanelli station.

On 23rd February, more than 800 metres of rail, 500 tonnes of ballast, and 423 sleepers will be renewed at Llandeilo, and further work will be carried out at Llanelli.

Although not directly affected by the Swansea area work, buses will replace trains between Bristol Parkway and Newport/Cardiff Central track after 8.35 pm on Sunday, 16th February because of work in the Severn Tunnel.

The Heart of Wales Line is popular with walkers, and the Heart of Wales Line Community Rail Partnership has a bilingual website with details of circular walks that start at stations along the line.

These are in addition to walks from railway stations across Wales produced by Transport for Wales in partnership with Wales’ leading walking charity, Ramblers Cymru.

“We are working really hard to improve train service punctuality across the route, and this essential work is a part of our commitment to do that. We recognise there is never a good time to close the railway, but we have planned the renewals to minimise disruption as much as possible, with a wide range of work being carried out during these two weekends. This includes track renewal and essential work to renew the time-served signalling equipment with a much more reliable system that will be commissioned later in 2025. We are also conscious of the number of rugby supporters west of Swansea who rely on train services on Six Nations match days, so there will be no engineering work on this stretch of the route on 22 February. I would like to thank passengers for their patience and urge them to check their journeys before travelling.”

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director