A major £48 million project to improve the railways in south Wales is almost complete, Network Rail has confirmed.

The organisation stated that work to replace the Loughor Viaduct near Swansea and redouble a 5.25-mile stretch of railway through Gowerton has gone well and new services should be available on Monday April 8th.

This upgrade will remove a troublesome bottleneck, allowing trains to run along the line more frequently.

Mark Langman, route managing director for Wales, said this is one of a number of projects across southern and western parts of the country that will help to improve the economy.

"As well as making it easier to travel to and from west Wales, they will help to boost local employment opportunities," he remarked.

Earlier this week (April 2nd), Network Rail revealed that a major project aimed at improving Reading station was completed in just four days over the Easter period. A project of this size would usually take 20 full weekends of work.