North Wales railway to close for four weeks as £25m upgrade gets underway
Major investment will see track, drainage and station improvements carried out between Chester and Holyhead.
More than £25 million is being invested in the North Wales Coast railway in a major programme of work designed to improve reliability, safety and capacity.
But passengers face a four-week closure of the line in January as Network Rail carries out the improvements.
The North Wales Coast line will close from Saturday, January 9th until Saturday, February 6th 2027.
For the first three weeks, the railway will be closed between Chester and Holyhead, including the Conwy Valley line and the route between Llandudno Junction and Llandudno.
During the final week, the closure will be reduced to the section between Llandudno Junction and Holyhead.
Network Rail says the closure will allow years' worth of complex work to be completed in one intensive programme, reducing the need for repeated weekend closures in the future.
Work will include track renewals at the Conwy Tubular Railway Bridge, improvements to drainage in Bodorgan Tunnel, and track and ground improvements at Penmaenbach.
There will also be improvements at Holyhead and Llandudno, work at four level crossings east of Bangor and improvements to the platform at Llandudno Junction.
Two new fully accessible footbridges will also be built at Prestatyn and Abergele, allowing four high-risk level crossings to be closed.
More than 3,000 concrete sleepers and 9,000 tonnes of ballast will be brought in during the work, with around 9,800 tonnes of material removed for recycling and reuse on future railway projects.
Network Rail says the work comes as the North Wales railway is carrying more services following the introduction of a new timetable in May, which increased Transport for Wales services by 50 per cent.
Rail replacement services will operate during the closure, although detailed travel arrangements have not yet been announced.
Transport for Wales says full details of alternative travel arrangements will be shared in autumn 2026.
Passengers are being advised to check before travelling during the closure once the new arrangements are confirmed.