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Significant disruption continues as trains cancelled after heat causes 'track defect' – Wales Online

Significant disruption for people travelling by rail from the South Wales Valleys is continuing. Transport for Wales (TfW) were forced to cancel all services on two lines after the railway track was damaged by the heat on Saturday, which was Wales' hottest day of the year.
There are no services between Pontypridd and Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare because of a track defect at Abercynon. The lines remain closed on Sunday morning with disruption expected to last for the rest of the day.
Rail replacement bus services have been arranged to get passengers from Merthyr and Aberdare to Pontypridd where services are running to Cardiff Central as normal.
The issue caused significant disruption on Saturday as thousands of fans travelled to the Welsh capital for Stereophonics' gig at the Principality Stadium. TfW warned that transport north of Pontypridd after the event "will be limited".
With no replacement bus services in place on Saturday passengers were told "do not travel" between these stations with fans being asked to make alternative arrangements to get to Cardiff.
On Sunday morning a spokesman for TfW said: "Rail replacement buses will be running between Pontypridd, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil today. Trains will operate as normal between Cardiff and Pontypridd. We kindly ask customers to continue to check before they travel today for the latest updates via the TfW website and JourneyCheck.
"The line remains closed following damage caused by heat to the rail near Abercynon and our infrastructure teams will continue to work safely to repair the issue.
"We would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Follow our live coverage of this incident below and remember you can get daily breaking news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here:
Transport for Wales have organised buses provided by Teulu Travel to run an hourly service between Pontypridd, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil to assist customers to complete journeys where possible at no extra cost.
People will also be able to use TfW tickets on Stagecoach buses until 7.30pm at no extra cost (services 60, 61, 78)
Rail replacement bus services have been arranged for passengers from Merthyr and Aberdare, Transport for Wales have confirmed this morning. The buses will be running for the rest of the day.
A TfW spokesperson said:
Rail replacement buses will be running between Pontypridd, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil today. Trains will operate as normal between Cardiff and Pontypridd. We kindly ask customers to continue to check before they travel today for the latest updates via the TfW website and JourneyCheck
The line remains closed following damage caused by heat to the rail near Abercynon, and our infrastructure teams will continue to work safely to repair the issue.
We would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
The lines between Pontypridd and Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil remain closed this morning due to damage caused by heat to the rail near Abercynon.
Transport for Wales infrastructure teams are continuing to work to resolve the problem.
A collision on a major route out of Swansea is causing severe traffic delays on Saturday evening. The incident has occurred at Fabian Way eastbound between Kings Road to Port Tennant Road.
The road has been closed and diversions are in place while emergency services are at the scene.
A spokesperson for South Wales Police said: "We're at the scene of a serious collision on Fabian Way, Swansea, near Santa Maria Hospital.
"The road is currently closed Fabian Way outbound, A483 from the junction with Santa Maria Hospital. It is expected to remain closed for some time.
"Please avoid the area and use alternative routes where possible. We're grateful for your patience."
Due to a points failure between Heath High Level and Cardiff Queen Street trains aren't able to travel on the Coryton line currently.
Disruption is expected for services on the Rhymney line towards Caerphilly.
If you were planning to catch a service on the line today you can use your ticket for the 21, 23, 25 and 36 Cardiff Bus services.
There has been a second crash on the M4 westbound this afternoon. This crash has happened near junction 29.
Two lanes have been closed due to the collision and delays are back to junction 27. Below shows the traffic from Traffic Cameras Wales minutes ago at junction 27.
According to the AA delays are around 10 minutes.
Transport for Wales has reminded people hoping to travel north of Cardiff past Pontypridd tonight that there are no rail services between Pontypridd and Aberdare/Merthyr and there will be no rail replacement buses either.
Local Stagecoach buses are running services between Pontypridd, Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare on services 60, 61, T4 and 78 until the end of their schedules today.
The last bus for Aberdare from Pontypridd bus station is the 61 bus at 11.45pm. Last buses for Merthyr Tydfil from Pontypridd are the 78 bus at 6.30pm and the T4 bus at 7.20pm.
A spokesperson for TfW added: "We apologise for any inconvenience caused and kindly ask customers to continue to check before they travel today and over the remainder of the weekend."
All lanes have reopened on the M4 westbound between junctions 30 and 32 but there remains residual congestion.
Traffic delays heading west before the Brynglas tunnels at Newport are now around 10 minutes.
Temporarily all lanes were being held between junctions 30 and 32 of the M4 but now just one lane is closed for emergency services to attend a crash while two of the lanes are now open. Congestion is still around 20 minutes in the area and back to Cardiff Gate from Coryton. Below is from Traffic Cameras Wales at Pontprennau.
Following the collision this afternoon on the M4 westbound at Coryton there is significant congestion which goes back to Cardiff Gate at junction 30. Delays currently are around 15 minutes according to the AA although other reports are that delays are longer. Two lanes of three are blocked due to the collision.
To add to the travel disruption heading into Cardiff this afternoon there has been a collision heading west between junction 30 at Cardiff Gate and junction 32 at Coryton. There is heavy congestion in the area and lanes one and two of three are currently blocked. Police are at the scene.
The scheduled Stagecoach bus times from Pontypridd this evening are as follows. Transport for Wales tickets are being accepted on their services at no further cost.
You can check the Stagecoach website for further information and confirmation of service times
Engineering work is under way to fix the track defect at Abercynon, but the latest update on the TfW website states: "the railway is closed to all services until further notice between Pontypridd, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil."
Transport for Wales have confirmed that there will be no dedicated rail replacement buses between Pontypridd and Merthyr/Aberdare for the remainder of the day.
A TfW spokesperson said:
Unfortunately, due to availability, we have not been able to source rail replacement buses.
This means there won’t be dedicated replacement bus services in place of trains north of Pontypridd towards Aberdare and Merthyr for the remainder of the day – this includes following the event at the Principality stadium.
Ticket acceptance will remain in place on local Stagecoach bus services between Pontypridd, Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare on services 60, 61, T4 and 78 up until the end of their scheduled service today.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused and kindly ask customers to continue to check before they travel today and over the remainder of the weekend.”
The latest advice to passengers from Transport for Wales is "do not travel" between Pontypridd and Merthyr/Aberdare. There are no rail replacement services planned, although tickets are being accepted on Stagecoach buses.
The TfW website states that a "do not travel" advisory is in place even though ticket acceptance has been arranged.
The track defect is located on an area of the railway at Abercynon. Engineers are working to resolve the issue but services have been cancelled for the rest of the day
There have been changes made to services between Cardiff Bay and Cardiff Queen Street due to the track defect affecting journeys from Merthyr and Aberdare. Services have been reduced to run every half hour.
An update on the TfW website reads: "Due to this disruption services running between Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Bay have been reduced to run every half hourly. The updated times will be XX:20/XX:50 from Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Bay and XX:08/XX:38 from Cardiff Bay to Cardiff Queen Street."
While all services between Pontypridd and Merthyr/Aberdare are cancelled, some alternative arrangements for transport have been made.
TfW have confirmed ticket acceptance is in place with Stagecoach buses between Pontypridd, Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare on services 60, 61, T4 and 78.
Train services between Pontypridd and Cardiff are running.


Fans travelling to Stereophonics' second night at the Principality Stadium from Merthyr and Aberdare face significant disruption due to services on those lines being brought to a standstill.
Rail replacement services have been put in place to get passengers to Pontypridd where they will then be able to travel to Cardiff by train. However, TfW say that travel north of Pontypridd after the event "will be limited".
A TfW spokesperson said:
For the Stereophonics this evening, we will be operating a full event queue and plan at Cardiff Central station, and we advise customers to keep hydrated and cool if travelling across the network today. Travel north of Pontypridd towards Aberdare and Merthyr will be limited post-event with ticket acceptance in place on local bus services."
The National Rail website states that there will be no trains between Pontypridd and Aberdare / Merthyr Tydfil until the end of the day.
Transport for Wales have provided an update for passengers providing more detail about the disruption.
A TfW spokesperson said:
Due to the heat, the railway line has been damaged between Pontypridd and Merthyr and Aberdare. For safety reasons, we've had to close this section of railway and will be unable to run any rail services on this line. Please do not travel between Pontypridd and Merthyr and Aberdare.
Rail services are running between Cardiff Central and Pontypridd and services are strengthened where we can. Ticket acceptance is in place with Stagecoach between Pontypridd, Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare on services 60, 61, T4 and 78.
Rail services will be busy, so please check before you travel and allow plenty of time. We apologise to our passengers for the inconvenience caused and our infrastructure teams are working hard to restore the line. For the latest travel updates customers can check the TfW website and app: https://www.journeycheck.com/tfwrail/”
No services are running on the Core Valley lines between Pontypridd and Aberdare, and Pontypridd and Merthyr due to a track defect caused by the heat.
Services between Pontypridd and Cardiff Central are running. The Treherbert line is also unaffected.

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