Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

South Wales Metro System - ambitious plans detailed

more Rail ambition
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/full-steam-ahead-group-hoping-8381309

e2a not for trains tho :oops:
bikes etc
For 47 years it has lain dormant but now ambitious plans are being drawn up to reopen Wales’ longest tunnel as a tourist attraction.

Opened in 1890, the 3,443 yards (3,148m) Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway Tunnel connected the coalfields of the Rhondda with Swansea Bay.

It was closed in 1968 as part of the Beeching cutbacks that decimated the railway network in the 1960s and led to the closure of thousands of train stations.

Both ends of the tunnel - at Blaencwm, in the Rhondda and Blaengwynfi in the Afan Valley - were filled in around 1979.

The Rhondda Tunnel Society group has now formed with the long term ambition of re-opening the tunnel, the seventh longest in the UK
Click to expand...
 
Of course the new Queen St is now well up and running - any observations from the local users ? - and there is a memorial bench to the excellent and much missed Tom Clift on one of the platforms (Tom was Valley Lines MD in tricky times and apart from being a good and much treasured friend , an excellent Welsh railwayman. To me , one of the best accolades anyone could get)
 
davesgcr said:
Of course the new Queen St is now well up and running - any observations from the local users ? - and there is a memorial bench to the excellent and much missed Tom Clift on one of the platforms (Tom was Valley Lines MD in tricky times and apart from being a good and much treasured friend , an excellent Welsh railwayman. To me , one of the best accolades anyone could get)
Click to expand...
I'll post up some photos later. The new platform looks well crap though.
 
moar plans!
Cardiff Capital Region: A Metro transport system is the key building block for a vibrant capital region of 1.5m people
Metromain2.jpg

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/vibrant-cardiff-capital-region-goal-8627373?
 
Too many buses, not enough trains and no circle line, everything is funnelled towards Cardiff city centre. The concept of the city region is being stretched in a way that looks more like a power struggle with the welsh government than anything else. Bridgend, abergavenny, chepstow, maestag et al are only in this to make it sound more impressive in size and scope than it is. If cardiff is going to grow as predicted than they need to sort out the infrastructure in cardiff and the immediate area, not drawing petty empires on paper so phil bale can strut around on a bigger stage.
 
Belushi said:
Just avoid London's mistake of putting either end in places no one wants to go to :thumbs :
Click to expand...

No problem - Dowlais Top in winter - a cinch compared to Braemar ......(our railway ancestors managed in 1947 for example - albeit with jet engines mounted on flat cars to break / blast the ice) :D
 
Theres going to be some major cuts in the rail improvement programme..,.. The Paddington Swansea electrification looks safe ....,but I hope the valleys coastal upgrade doesn't get...re imagined ?
The northern upgrades look fucked...!
 
Valleys depends on WAG - so canvass them .....devolution on the way.Transport wise ....Swansea has some wires up already , In the spendidly named Maliphant Sidings - so should be safe.


(as you can imagine - I have had some input ......my swansong in some respects - I am still offering beers all round for the 1st electric service train in to the city....
 
Well with Chris Gibb (ex MD of Wales and West) , and local boy Andrew Haines (ex MD of South West Trains) as advisors - some real focus going into this. :thumbs:
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-33314634

About £600m is to be spent on a new metro for south east Wales within five years, BBC Wales understands.

It is likely to be a mix of light rail, trams, improved trains and faster buses by 2020 in Cardiff and the valleys.

It is in addition to planned rail electrification and will run as a "not-for-dividend" part of the next all-Wales rail franchise from 2018.

The economy minister will task rail and business experts to finalise plans before work starts in 2017.
Click to expand...
 
editor said:
Wish it would reopen as a railway line though...
Click to expand...

Agreed - but if opened as a walking route - I will bring along my old dad's miners lamp to guide the way. (not much use really but he would have approved) - a future outing I hope.
 
Update on metro, of sorts

How a small village on Cardiff's outskirts could be at heart of the Metro

The next phase of the integrated public transport Metro project should by the early 2020s see the Valley Lines electrified with more frequent and faster new rolling stock - mostly likely light rail.

While there are a number options for the Garth Works site, it is understood that the frontrunner is creating a huge Metro park and ride facility.

Such a facility would encourage drivers using the A470 on journeys into Cardiff from the Valleys, and vice visa, to park at Taff Wells and then travel on the Metro.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

hitmouse
Wales International Film Festival
Replies
2
Views
311
hitmouse
hitmouse
editor
'Little England beyond Wales' - south west Wales history
Replies
5
Views
487
platinumsage
platinumsage
Artaxerxes
Wales without a car - hints, tips
Replies
16
Views
808
Sir Belchalot
Sir Belchalot
editor
Wasteland of my Fathers - exhibition showcasing punk culture across Wales: Cardiff, 25th Sept - 5th Nov
Replies
4
Views
627
ddraig
ddraig
blossie33
Castle in South Wales built by ex soldier with PTSD
Replies
0
Views
331
blossie33
blossie33
Back
Top Bottom