PEOPLE living near Rhyl railway station have been left scratching their heads over a letter they have received about major track improvement work.

The correspondence from Network Rail – about when work on upgrading signal points and track along the line in Rhyl is due to start – includes a number of incorrect dates.

The letter states that “core” work will take place on “Sunday, October 12 into the morning of Monday, October 13” – which is actually this Thursday and Friday – and “Sunday, October 19 into the morning of Monday, October 20” – which is the following Thursday and Friday.

The work, which involves cutting the railway track into sections, is part of the North Wales Railway upgrade project – a £50 million scheme to modernise signalling and increase the resilience and reliability of the railway.

After being approached by the Journal, Network Rail apologised for confusion created by letters stating that they were supposed to read “November” rather than “October”. A Network Rail spokesman said: “We care about our lineside neighbours and we have written to them to explain that work will be starting in Rhyl shortly as part of the North Wales railway upgrade project.

“Unfortunately, these letters mistakenly said this work would begin in October rather than November. We are reissuing the letters with the correct information and we would like to apologise for any confusion.”

The spokesman reiterated that work at Rhyl was being carried out during weekends and said replacement bus services would be in operation between Llandudno Junction and Chester on Sundays only between October 29 and November 26. The upgrade work is expected to be completed by January 2018.

The work next month in Rhyl also involves replacing the old ballast [gravel or coarse stone used to form the bed of a railway track] with new ballast before the new track and points are installed.

The letter states: “All this upgrade work will improve reliability of the railway and passenger comfort over the new section of track.”