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Rail services on the Rhymney and Ebbw Valley lines will be disrupted this week because of train safety checks.

Transport or Wales has withdrawn a number of its Class 175 trains for maintenance checks after a number of fires were caused by mechanical issues.

Th rail operator had hoped the trains would be back in service by Friday March 10, but the safety checks are still on-going.

There is no service and no rail replacement bus between Newport and Crosskeys, while there will also be reduced service on some routes on the core Valley lines – which include Rhymney.

There will also be service disruption across the Wales and Borders network.

Passengers are being asked to check with TfW before travelling.

Jan Chaudhry-Van der Velde, Chief Operations Officer at TfW, said: “The safety of our customers and colleagues remains our priority and it is important that all the necessary checks and repairs have been completed on each of our Class 175 trains before being allowed back into service.

“The Class 175s are maintained on our behalf by CAF at their depot in Chester, and while we have this shortage of rolling stock, we are moving trains around the network to try and minimise the impact on the busiest routes.

“We’re very sorry for any disruption to customers’ journeys while we work to carry out the repairs as quickly as possible.”

Industrial action – March 16 and 18

The National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) has announced planned strike action at Network Rail has been suspended. However, strike action at 14 train operating companies (not including TfW) will still go ahead as planned on March 16 and 18. There will be some changes to TfW’s timetable as a result.

Some services are also likely to be extremely busy as a result of the severely-reduced timetable put in place by other operators.

• Services between Chester and Liverpool will not run.
• Services will not call at Wilmslow.
• Services calling at Stockport will be set down only towards Manchester and pick up only towards Crewe.
• Before 9.15am and after 9.15pm – services between South Wales and Cheltenham will terminate at Lydney
• Before 7am and after 7pm – services between North Wales and Manchester will terminate at Chester.
• Services on the Marches Line will terminate at Shrewsbury.
• Services to Birmingham International will terminate at Birmingham New Street.
• Cheltenham Festival – Passengers travelling to Cheltenham Festival are advised to seek alternative travel arrangements as services to Cheltenham between 9.15am and 9.15pm will be limited and very busy. Gloucester station will be closed all day.