South Wales Metro System - ambitious plans detailed

[ddraig]

From

Watch: Wales’ first tram trains unveiled

Brand-new electric tram trains set to revolutionise transport across the south Wales valleys have been unveiled at their new £100 million depot at Taff’s Well. As part of the South Wales Metro project being delivered by Transport for Wales, the light rail vehicles are the first to be introduced...

nation.cymru

 

[davesgcr]

From

Watch: Wales’ first tram trains unveiled

Brand-new electric tram trains set to revolutionise transport across the south Wales valleys have been unveiled at their new £100 million depot at Taff’s Well. As part of the South Wales Metro project being delivered by Transport for Wales, the light rail vehicles are the first to be introduced...

nation.cymru

As you know I have previous railway history in South Wales - so maybe a nice Urban day out when it is running properly ?

(course - urban South Wales had lots of old school trams - my favourite name being the "Swansea Tramways and Improvement Company" - profits made in those Edwardian days were ploughed into parks , libraries, swimming pools etc.

 

[ddraig]

I can't wait for them to be up and running in Cardiff, will make a lot of places easier to get to!

 

[1927]

As you know I have previous railway history in South Wales - so maybe a nice Urban day out when it is running properly ?

(course - urban South Wales had lots of old school trams - my favourite name being the "Swansea Tramways and Improvement Company" - profits made in those Edwardian days were ploughed into parks , libraries, swimming pools etc.

Fact. The only remaining signage from the Mumbles Electric Railway company now resides in the industrial and maritime museum courtesy of yours truly.i found it in an antique shop in sheffield in my college days, the result of a house clearance. I gave the owner £5 for it and donated it to museum.

 

[editor]

I can't wait for them to be up and running in Cardiff, will make a lot of places easier to get to!

If only they'd just get on with it and connect Coryton with the Radyr line.

We used to jump on slow moving goods wagons at Radyr when we were kids (bit stupid, thinking back!) but I always enjoyed the clank of the fabulous semaphore signals there.

 

[editor]

There's a neat interactive map for tracking trains:

Signalbox - Live Train Map

Signalbox's live real-time map of Great Britain's rail network.

tfw.signalbox.io

 

[editor]

The Taff's Well Deport is coming along

 

[editor]

This unofficial map seems pretty close to what we're getting. If only that yellow line to Coryton could be finally extended to Radyr....

 

[bendeus]

Well, I hope they manage to get their shit together sufficiently to a) replace the decrepit, diesel belching 'sprinters' that we have to suffer on the Bridgend to Aberdare route (originally slated for replacement in 2020) and b) have the last train to Llantwit Major from Cardiff run slightly later than 21:42

 

[nogojones]

So what did we get in the end?

One new station and an updated, electric fleet?

 

[ddraig]

It's not done yet!

 

[nogojones]

It's not done yet!

Are there loads more stations in the offings?

 

[editor]

Are there loads more stations in the offings?

To be fair, in the last 20 years or so they've reopened lines to Aberdare, Maesteg, Aberdare and Ebbw Vale, doubled loads of sections of tracks in the Valleys, electrification is currently underway and there's loads of works going on around the Bay.

 

[ddraig]

Are there loads more stations in the offings?

more repurposing iirc!

 

[nogojones]

more repurposing iirc!

Sorry for being a bit dim, but what does that mean?

 

[ddraig]

Sorry for being a bit dim, but what does that mean?

Like Cathays "metro station" is going to be between Rhostio and the Crwys pub but using existing tracks and platform with new pedestrian entrance/exit

 

[nogojones]

Like Cathays "metro station" is going to be between Rhostio and the Crwys pub but using existing tracks and platform with new pedestrian entrance/exit

will they be getting rid of Cathays station by the uni then?

 

[ddraig]

will they be getting rid of Cathays station by the uni then?

very much doubt it

 

[davesgcr]

very much doubt it

Useless fact - Cathays was the first station re-opened on the Valleys network in decades. Been a success from the start.

 

[editor]

Connecting to the City Line at Radyr to form a handy cross -Cardiff circle line seems a dazzlingly obvious move to me, but they've been talking about it for decades now.

 

[editor]

Changes to the service:



Merthyr Tydfil services will run as normal to Cardiff Central. They will then continue to travel up the City Line to Radyr, continuing up to Aberdare.
Merthyr services will no longer travel past Cardiff Central to Bridgend and Barry Island.



Services between Aberdare & Cardiff Central will run via the City Line
Calling at Radyr, Danescourt, Fairwater, Waun-Gron Park & Ninian Park
After arriving at Cardiff Central, the train will continue to Cardiff Queen Street, Cathays, Llandaf and onwards to Merthyr

From 02 June, we’ll be introducing more frequent evening services to the Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr lines, with trains every 30 minutes from Cardiff until 20:30 instead of 19:30 today.


We’re increasing the frequency of trains between Rhymney and Bargoed from 1 to 2 trains per hour Monday to Saturday, with every other train running non-stop between the two.
Rhymney services will travel to Cardiff Central, Barry Island and Bridgend.




We’re increasing the frequency of trains between Caerphilly and Cardiff, with trains every 10 minutes between 06:30 and 18:30 Monday to Saturday.
Caerphilly and Coryton services will now run to Penarth.


Coryton services will run into Cardiff and onwards to Penarth. They will no longer loop around to Radyr via the City Line.



We’re increasing the frequency of trains between Pontypridd and Cardiff, to 8 trains per hour.
All 8 trains will now call at Trefforest Estate.
Included in this will be a new direct service between Pontypridd and Cardiff Bay, running every 30 minutes.


Further information on all of these changes can be found on our website

https://tfw.wales/projects/metro/south-wales-metro/june-2024

There may be changes to your usual train/platform

Train times for June are now live on our journey checker: https://tfw.wales/plan-a-journey

 

[editor]

So good news for everyone except the Coryton line.

 

[shambler]

Hmm. I wonder how the frequency of trains between Barry and Cardiff will be affected, if the Merthyr line no longer goes through there too. It would be madness to reduce it, so hopefully it’s staying the same.

 

[editor]

Cardiff Bay station finally gets more than one destination!

or almost 20 years, Cardiff Bay has seen just a shuttle service going down the single-track branch from Cardiff Queen Street - and despite that, it was Wales' fifth busiest pre-pandemic with about 1.5m passengers a year.


Next weekend signals a change in Cardiff Bay’s connectivity as train operators Transport for Wales start a new service on Sunday between Pontypridd and Cardiff Bay - stopping at all stations in between, such as Radyr and Llandaf stations.

Frequency will, though, temporarily drop to five trains an hour but will become six again next year when the single track line becomes two and is electrified.

Cardiff Bay station will also get an additional platform, a new station is being built north at Butetown and new 256-people capacity three-carriage trains.
It will also be connected to the city's new £100m on-street tram service, external that will directly connect the bay with Cardiff's mainline Central train hub.

Construction for that project, fully-funded by Welsh and UK governments, is due to start next summer.

Railway: Cardiff Bay station to get more destinations

One of the UK's oldest big city railway stations with one direct destination is to get more stops.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[editor]

Plans for new tram in Wales' capital city revealed:

"Subject to funding, the Cardiff Crossrail will eventually run from the north-west of the city all the way to the east of the city connecting with the proposed Parkway railway station," council cabinet member Dan D'eath said.

"To start this process, the first phase of the scheme must be built between Cardiff Central and Cardiff Bay."

Cardiff Crossrail: The new tram which could span Wales' capital city

The first stage of Cardiff Crossrail would connect Cardiff Central station with Cardiff Bay.

www.bbc.co.uk