diff --git a/.gitlab/pipeline/zombienet/bridges.yml b/.gitlab/pipeline/zombienet/bridges.yml
index 0472601a6a2b..07711e32a9a3 100644
--- a/.gitlab/pipeline/zombienet/bridges.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/pipeline/zombienet/bridges.yml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
     - if: $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME =~ /^gh-readonly-queue.*$/
       variables:
         DOCKER_IMAGES_VERSION: ${CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA}
-    - !reference [.build-refs, rules]
+    - !reference [ .build-refs, rules ]
   before_script:
     - echo "Zombienet Tests Config"
     - echo "${ZOMBIENET_IMAGE}"
@@ -47,8 +47,6 @@
     - cp -r /tmp/bridges-tests-run-*/bridge_hub_rococo_local_network/*.log ./zombienet-logs/
     # copy logs of westend nodes
     - cp -r /tmp/bridges-tests-run-*/bridge_hub_westend_local_network/*.log ./zombienet-logs/
-  tags:
-    - zombienet-polkadot-integration-test
 
 zombienet-bridges-0001-asset-transfer-works:
   extends:
diff --git a/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/rococo.zndsl b/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/rococo-bridge.zndsl
similarity index 100%
rename from bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/rococo.zndsl
rename to bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/rococo-bridge.zndsl
diff --git a/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/rococo-start.zndsl b/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/rococo-start.zndsl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8c719b010df6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/rococo-start.zndsl
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+Description: Check if the Rococo parachains started producing blocks reliably
+Network: ./bridge_hub_westend_local_network.toml
+Creds: config
+
+# ensure that initialization has completed
+asset-hub-rococo-collator1: reports block height is at least 10 within 180 seconds
+bridge-hub-rococo-collator1: reports block height is at least 10 within 180 seconds
+
diff --git a/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/spawn.sh b/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/spawn.sh
index a0ab00be1444..83b3b0720bb8 100755
--- a/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/spawn.sh
+++ b/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/spawn.sh
@@ -35,9 +35,11 @@ start_zombienet $TEST_DIR $westend_def westend_dir westend_pid
 echo
 
 if [[ $init -eq 1 ]]; then
+  run_zndsl ${BASH_SOURCE%/*}/rococo-start.zndsl $rococo_dir
+  run_zndsl ${BASH_SOURCE%/*}/westend-start.zndsl $westend_dir
+
   rococo_init_log=$logs_dir/rococo-init.log
   echo -e "Setting up the rococo side of the bridge. Logs available at: $rococo_init_log\n"
-
   westend_init_log=$logs_dir/westend-init.log
   echo -e "Setting up the westend side of the bridge. Logs available at: $westend_init_log\n"
 
@@ -47,7 +49,6 @@ if [[ $init -eq 1 ]]; then
   westend_init_pid=$!
   wait -n $rococo_init_pid $westend_init_pid
 
-
   $helper_script init-bridge-hub-rococo-local >> $rococo_init_log 2>&1 &
   rococo_init_pid=$!
   $helper_script init-bridge-hub-westend-local >> $westend_init_log 2>&1 &
diff --git a/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/start_relayer.sh b/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/start_relayer.sh
index 9c57e4a6ab6e..150fce035071 100755
--- a/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/start_relayer.sh
+++ b/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/start_relayer.sh
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ messages_relayer_log=$logs_dir/relayer_messages.log
 echo -e "Starting rococo-westend messages relayer. Logs available at: $messages_relayer_log\n"
 start_background_process "$helper_script run-messages-relay" $messages_relayer_log messages_relayer_pid
 
-run_zndsl ${BASH_SOURCE%/*}/rococo.zndsl $rococo_dir
-run_zndsl ${BASH_SOURCE%/*}/westend.zndsl $westend_dir
+run_zndsl ${BASH_SOURCE%/*}/rococo-bridge.zndsl $rococo_dir
+run_zndsl ${BASH_SOURCE%/*}/westend-bridge.zndsl $westend_dir
 
 eval $__finality_relayer_pid="'$finality_relayer_pid'"
 eval $__parachains_relayer_pid="'$parachains_relayer_pid'"
diff --git a/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/westend.zndsl b/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/westend-bridge.zndsl
similarity index 100%
rename from bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/westend.zndsl
rename to bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/westend-bridge.zndsl
diff --git a/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/westend-start.zndsl b/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/westend-start.zndsl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..fe587322edb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bridges/testing/environments/rococo-westend/westend-start.zndsl
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+Description: Check if the Westend parachains started producing blocks reliably
+Network: ./bridge_hub_westend_local_network.toml
+Creds: config
+
+# ensure that initialization has completed
+asset-hub-westend-collator1: reports block height is at least 10 within 180 seconds
+bridge-hub-westend-collator1: reports block height is at least 10 within 180 seconds
+