A raft of rail services will be hit by upgrade work which promises to bring "decades" of improvement for passengers. 

Great Western Railway services via Gloucester and Bristol Parkway will be affected by improvement schemes this weekend (November 4-5).

GWR Signalling upgrade work means there will be no trains between Gloucester and Kemble on Saturday, November 4, or Sunday, November 5, as well as between Gloucester and Yate.

In addition, track renewals will also mean that no train services can stop at Bristol Parkway on Sunday (November 5) until after 5pm that day.

Alternative route diversions will operate for trains between London Paddington and South Wales, extending journey times by around 30 minutes, while on Sunday these GWR services will stop at Patchway instead of Bristol Parkway up until 5pm, with connecting buses to/from Bristol Parkway

Trains between London Paddington and Cheltenham Spa running to Kemble instead of Cheltenham Spa. Services will run between Swindon and Kemble on Sunday.

CrossCountry trains will be diverted via an alternative route between Cheltenham Spa and Bristol Parkway/Bristol Temple Meads - stopping at Gloucester and Newport.

Replacement buses are also planned between Gloucester and Kemble, Gloucester and Bristol Parkway on Saturday, or Gloucester and Bristol Temple Meads on Sunday.

Mark Parker, Network Rail project manager, said: "This is part of our continual work to make services safer and more reliable. Unfortunately, we do need to close the railway, so our teams can work safely and most efficiently. We're sorry for the disruption, but the benefits will be felt for decades to come."

Ben Scott, GWR Station Manager for South Cotswolds, added: "These works form part of an ongoing programme of rail improvement works that will allow us to maintain services for customers travelling via Gloucester or Bristol Parkway.

"Some train services will be using a slightly different route from normal this weekend, in order to maintain connections.

"We will also provide replacement road transport, plus ticket acceptance on relevant bus services to enable customers to complete their journeys."