PARENTS in Cardiff are worried night-time railway works taking place from this week will affect children taking their GCSEs and A-level exams.
Transport for Wales (TfW) has been carrying out works to upgrade and electrify the Coryton line for months.
Work has now started on replacing the track from Highfield Road to Monthermer Road and residents living nearby were told by TfW that it would take place from 8.30pm each night from Saturday to Wednesday for five weeks.
One parent, Matt, who lives in Cyncoed, told us late-night pile driving as part of the electrification works woke him and his child up on occasions and he worries the same thing will happen again.
Matt said: “He has got his GCSE [exam]… right in the middle of this period when they are going to be working.
“Usually a teenager can sleep through anything, but if it’s anything like when they were driving the pilings in or using the chainsaws then he will be woken up.”
When we approached TfW for a comment, it said the work to replace the old tracks on the Coryton line is safety critical.
A spokesperson for TfW also said due to the nature of the work, it has to be carried out during the night when trains are not running and it plans to keep noise to a minimum by using acoustic barriers.
Engineering work to prepare for the electrification of the Coryton line, which is part of the wider South Wales Metro project, started in October 2024.
Describing what it was like to live with the noise that was caused by pile driving, Matt said: “It really thudded. If you’d fallen asleep, the thud of putting the pilings in would still wake you up [with the] windows shut.”
Matt said works would start late at night and go on until the early hours of the morning.
He added: “Once you got woken up, you… try to go back to sleep again, but you are on tenterhooks waiting for the next noise to start and it is not like it is a regular noise either.”
Upgrading the Core Valleys Lines forms a key part of the South Wales Metro project and involves the electrification of 170km of railway track.
The work on railway lines also includes those to Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhymney and Treherbert, and it will allow TfW to run new electric trains on them.
One resident living in Cyncoed who wished to remain anonymous said: “Hopefully when they finally get it all working, the noise impact will be less. [I am] told the electric trains will be much quieter.
“We were told that it would be a positive thing, but so far [that is] not our experience.”
The resident went on to say their child hasn’t been affected by the noise recently, but added past works have been disruptive.
Describing the pile driving work which took place months ago, she added: “It was awful. I can’t explain to you how loud it was. The garden was vibrating. I actually went to stay somewhere else for a couple of nights.”
Another Cyncoed resident who also wished to remain anonymous said the pile driving works were disruptive and woke him up at night.
He said: “You have got the noise and you have got the light. They have got to be safe in doing it, so the light is very strong. It is very disruptive.”
The resident said he doesn’t have any children who are taking GCSEs or A-levels, but added: “I feel for people who do.”
A TfW spokesperson said: “Safety critical work to replace old track between Monthermer Road and Highfield Road forms part of our ongoing transformation of the Coryton and Rhymney lines, which will allow us to introduce brand-new trains on these routes from this summer.
“Due to the nature of the work it must take place during the night-time when trains are not running, but we aim to keep noise to a minimum as much as possible by using acoustic barriers.
“Residents living close to the railway line have been informed of the work and can contact our customer relations team using the details provided should they have any concerns.”
Cardiff Council as the local education authority was approached for a comment about parents’ concerns.
