ENGINEERING work has closed some railway lines across the Great Western Railway network over the bank holiday weekend.

Network Rail announced that the lines between Swindon and Gloucester will be closed from May 1 to May 3.

No trains will run between Swindon and Gloucester.A rail replacement service will operate hourly: -One is a direct link between Swindon and Gloucester, which will take 60 minutes.

-Another route will call at Kemble (30 minutes after departure), Stroud (30 minutes after Kemble), Stonehouse Post Office (10 minutes after Stroud) and finally Gloucester (35 minutes after Stonehouse Post Office).

A few early and late buses will extend to and from Cheltenham Spa. There will be rail connections between London Paddington and Swindon, also between Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa.

More engineering work is being carried out between Warminster/Tisbury and Salisbury which has closed the railway lines on that route.

Buses will replace trains between Warminster/Gillingham and Salisbury.

The following alterations will only apply on Saturday: Last service from Cardiff Central with connections available is the 8.30pm. Cardiff Central to Warminster which would be followed by road transport to Salisbury and a rail connection to Portsmouth Harbour.

Yet more engineering work is taking place between Reading and Newbury, resulting in the closure of all lines.

Trains between London Paddington and Bedwyn/Newbury and between Reading and Bedwyn/Newbury will not run.

Rail replacement bus services will be in place between Reading and Newbury. There will be a fast option between Reading and Newbury which will take 40 to 45 minutes and this service will run hourly on Saturday and Sunday.

There will also be a bus between Reading and Newbury which will call at all stations and this will take 64 minutes. This service will run every hour on Saturday and every two hours on Sunday.

There will be a Reading to Bedwyn bus running which will call at Theale (18 minutes after departure), Thatcham (15 minutes later), Newbury (13 minutes later), Kintbury (20 minutes later), Hungerford (10 minutes later) and Bedwyn (15 minutes later). This service will run every hour on Saturday and every two hours on Sunday.

The last bus for Saturday's service from Reading to Newbury will depart at 00:20 on Sunday and set down only at all stations.

There will be rail connections available from Reading to London Paddington.

As a result of this engineering work, trains between London Paddington and Exeter St Davids/Plymouth/Penzance will depart London Paddington and Reading approximately 30 minutes earlier than originally scheduled and will be diverted between Reading and Westbury.

They will no longer call at Newbury or Pewsey. Some trains will additionally call at Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Westbury and Castle Cary.

Customers travelling to Pewsey should travel via Swindon for replacement bus service between Swindon and Pewsey which will take 45 minutes.