The Marches Line between Hereford and Newport reopened to passenger and freight services on Tuesday 18 November following repairs after an isolated track washout near Abergavenny. The disruption was caused by Storm Claudia, which brought unprecedented rainfall to the area.

Floodwater completely washed away the ballast near Pandy level crossing, leaving a two-metre void with rails suspended. Engineers from Network Rail Wales and Borders worked intensively around the clock to restore the line, deploying over 100 staff across multiple shifts, four rail-road cranes, two tamping machines, and 600 tonnes of ballast transported by 30 articulated lorries.

Nick Millington, Route Director for Network Rail Wales and Borders, said:

“Our teams have worked methodically and safely to fix the damage caused by the flooding near Pandy level crossing in just 60 hours. Before our resilience work and the rock armour being placed, this would have taken potentially four weeks to complete. We’ve used 600 tonnes of ballast and around 100 people in this recovery operation. A number of our people weren’t rostered to work this weekend but came in voluntarily to help, and I’m proud of their efforts and what we’ve managed to achieve.”

The speed of repairs was aided by resilience work completed in 2021, when 8,000 tonnes of rock armour were installed along the vulnerable section of the line. This measure limited the impact of the flooding, which historically could have closed the route for three to four weeks. Despite Storm Claudia dropping 120mm of rain, the railway suffered only a single washout, compared with 15 washouts during an 80mm rainfall event in 2019.

Marie Daly, Chief Operating Officer at Transport for Wales, said:

“We’re pleased to confirm the railway line between Hereford and Newport has re-opened with services resuming on Tuesday morning, 18th November. We appreciate our customers’ patience while we worked with Network Rail to reopen the affected line. We strongly advise all fans heading to Cardiff for the World Cup qualifier to check their journey details before travelling, as services are expected to be exceptionally busy while we work to get our trains back into their normal scheduled locations.”

The reopening marks the successful completion of a major recovery effort and highlights the benefits of investment in railway resilience and the dedication of staff in restoring vital passenger and freight connections quickly.

Image: Network Rail