The Rhymney Valley line has fully reopened to trains after a heavy goods vehicle a bridge near Pengam railway station – however there is still widespread road congestion in the area.
The vehicle struck the bridge at around 10.30am today, Wednesday, March 14 closing the road. Trains had been suspended between Ystrad Mynach and Bargoed with a road replacement rail service operating. However the line has since reopened.
There is still heavy traffic in the area and motorists have been advised to avoid it.
Welsh Water are also on site dealing with a burst water main which requires works to be carried out with temporary traffic lights.
A Network Rail spokeswoman said: “Earlier today, a vehicle struck a rail bridge in Pengam. Safety is a key priority, and trains were unable to run over the bridge until our engineers had repaired the damage and confirmed it was safe.
“We worked closely with our partners Arriva Trains Wales to keep passengers moving with a rail replacement bus service until the line reopened.
“Bridge strikes cost the taxpayer millions of pounds and delay thousands of passengers every year, so we’d like to remind drivers to check the height of their vehicles before passing under any bridges.”
An Arriva Trains Wales spokesman said: “We’ve been working closely with our partners in Network Rail since the collision to assess the level of the damage and engineers are still on site.
“We will do all we can to minimise the disruption, however customer and staff safety is the first priority and as such customers should expect some disruption this afternoon and into the evening.”
A Welsh Water spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we are on site repairing a burst water main in the Pengam area. Our teams have maintained water supply to all customers by redirecting resources from other parts of our network so there should be no interruption to their water supplies.
“However, in order to carry out essential repairs of the road surface, we have put in place temporary traffic restrictions to make the area safe while we carry out this work. We apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused.”