Students kept awake by noisy railway works

CARDIFF students have complained about being kept awake until the early hours – after railway works were carried out near their halls of residence.

With exam season under way, several students took to social media to complain about the noise from the works near the Talybont halls complex in the city.

Students said they were kept awake until the early hours of yesterday morning.

Network Rail said it is carrying out overnnight maintenance work between Cardiff Queen Street and Pontypridd from 11.15pm to 5.15am until Friday.

One Cardiff University student who lives in the nearby halls said: “From about 12.30am to at least 3am there were workers on the track.

“It sounded like a pneumatic drill going off. Some people I know had a 9am start this morning.

“I was already awake when it started, but I definitely would have gone to bed sooner if it wasn’t for the noise.

“There was no chance that you could sleep with the window open.

“Luckily I didn’t have an exam today, but it would not have been great really.

“Everyone wants a good night’s sleep before an exam, so for them to start work lasting until 3am in exam season is mad.”

The railway track runs close to the Talybont halls complex, which is made up of four buildings and can hold almost 3,000 students.

Another student who lives in the halls said: “I probably came home at about 11.30pm from doing work, and could hear loads of men talking but didn’t think much of it.

“Then about 20 minutes to about half an hour later, they started drilling and hammering things, so I text my flatmates, one of whom had an exam this morning, and they were angry too because we all have deadlines and exams this week.

“I eventually got to sleep but my flatmate didn’t get to sleep until 4.30am.”

The Cardiff University exam period started on Monday and lasts until Friday, June 9.

A spokeswoman for Network Rail said: “Safety is our number one priority and for this reason a large amount of this work must be carried out while trains are not running.

“This means carrying out a lot of our improvements during the night and at weekends.

“Throughout the duration of our work, Network Rail and our partners will endeavour to work responsibly.

“The equipment we use means some disturbance is unavoidable, but we will make every effort to minimise any unnecessary noise.

“Furthermore, those working on site are briefed on working responsibly in the local community.”