Probably a good idea since nothing has gone to schedule before. If you don't give timescales out people can't complain when you don't meet them.
Yes that makes a good observation point in the otherwise opaque fencing.
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South Wales 'Metro' updates
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Probably a good idea since nothing has gone to schedule before. If you don't give timescales out people can't complain when you don't meet them.
Yes that makes a good observation point in the otherwise opaque fencing.
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True - but I think they're obliged to put out certain documents by law (or they wouldn't bother!) so the lack of published consultation documents giving timescales for things like trackwork at Queen Street suggests that those things aren't currently fully scheduled. (Though I did not that in the interview that the head of TfW gave to the Green Signals YouTube channel he did say he thought that the government would soon abolish the requirement for track and trains to be managed separately, which is what gives rise to the need to publish plans for modifications to the track, signalling and approved vehicle types)
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RAIL magazine this week has a news-in-brief piece saying that wires will go live to Coryton and Caerphilly “in the coming weeks”, confirming various people’s suspicions that the wires didn’t go live on the weekend that they were supposed to.
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Tomos y Tanc
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I'm not sure that's correct since TfW own and operate the track and the trains on the CVL including Queen Street. I suspect the rules are different from those that govern Network Rail which is obliged to give due notice of works for the benefit of the train operators rather than the general public.
I could be wrong.
It’s quite nuanced: Welsh Government owns the track ultimately and manages it through Transport for Wales Ltd, which is a state-owned company. TfW Ltd in turn owns TfW Rail Ltd which is a train operating company.. However, the legal requirement for separation of ownership of track and train (which has its origins in European law and is still currently live in the UK because it hasn’t yet been changed) means that TfW Ltd leases the track to a private contractor (Amey) via a subsidiary called Seilwaith Amey Cymru / Amey Infrastructure Wales Ltd to act as the infrastructure operator for the Core Valley Lines. This company is effectively the equivalent of Network Rail, and is bound by the same rules, including the need to consult the industry and the Office of Rail and Road on any changes to the infrastructure or timetabling. In theory, an open access operator could apply to work on the Core Valley Lines and so all the regulatory frameworks need to enable this on a fair basis.
SAC/AIW have their own webpage (hosted by TfW) here https://tfw.wales/projects/metro/south-wales-metro/cvl-consultation/cvl-infrastructure-manager
I get a lot of information about the metro project from their consultations and publications, which are all published because of this legal need to provide for other ToCs that may wish to apply to operate trains on the Core Valley Lines, but if the law is changed a lot of this transparency will no longer be necessary.
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Not quite the same, but we've seen documents posted here where TfW has announced changes to their own infrastructure and given all the other operators that don't use it a chance to object (e.g. the Bay Line moving to line of sight operation).
Thinking about this, if they are this far behind with the ability just to shut lines down when convenient with barely any notice, I wonder where we'd be if they couldn't do that?
I suppose given the risk of cable theft, for once TfW can be forgiven for misleading people by letting them assume (and, I think, even confirming on Twitter) that this had already happened.
But unless they've found a way of doing it without the bridge and level crossing closures planned last time, if it's in the "coming weeks" I think they need to let people know. If so, I wonder if they'll say it's to energise the wires or will keep to the pretence that they were already on?
Their web site also says that they will be energised in the "coming weeks" - but that's just from before when it was going to be early February.
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I presume the legal requirement is for the subsidiary to exist, not for the subsidiary to then employ a private contractor.
And TfW is either not a train company at all (with that being TfW Rail) or TfW is more than a train operating company.
There used to be (most confusingly) two separate web sites but now they seem to have been merged, wiith the home page looking at first glance like a rail company web site but also with non rail information on.
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Yeah sorry - I accidentally posted while I was still editing. I’ve clarified it now, thanks!
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Monday 10th March: as I cycled in to work I saw that a whole series of masts and structures have gone up on the Cardiff Bay line. It was raining so I didn’t stop to take photos, but there are definitely several around Butetown including the larger structure where the wires will stop, and a few en-route to Cardiff Bay. There’s a week-long closure coming up next week.
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davetheguard
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I'm planning a visit to Cardiff later this month, with time to visit one of the longer Valley branches plus maybe Coryton too.
Quick question for those on here who know the Valley Lines much better than me:
Which is the best line to visit in terms of new infrastructure to see - electrification & extra passing loops? And new trains already in service?
I've travelled on all the lines before, but apart from Ebbw Vale which I last rode a month ago, nothing for twenty years or more!
Quick question for those on here who know the Valley Lines much better than me:
Which is the best line to visit in terms of new infrastructure to see - electrification & extra passing loops? And new trains already in service?
I've travelled on all the lines before, but apart from Ebbw Vale which I last rode a month ago, nothing for twenty years or more!
The three TAM lines are all pretty similar in terms of newly redoubled track and electrification, but Aberdare and Treherbert have additional platforms now as well. Until very recently there were more electric services on the A and M lines, but don’t know whether that is still the case with the recent increase in daily 756 diagrams.
One other thing to add is that the City Line (Ninian Park - Radyr) is worth a look as the stations all have had platform extensions and overhead wires. It's only 2tph though.
WelshBluebird
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Any news on the toilets TfW were going to install at Tonypandy, Radyr, Treherbert, Caerphilly, Aberdare and Merthyr? I've not noticed anything at the first two the last time I passed and no idea of the others.
Dai Corner
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Don't panic. Chemical toilets as seen at public events and on building sites could be provided at a day or two's notice if it comes to that.
I didn't have time to stop this morning but there are four or five cantilevers now deployed over the new platform at Cardiff Bay, and they have the vertical drop tubes attached. Also, at the north-west entrance to Butetown (near the Salvation Army building) a whole load of modular concrete blocks have been delivered, presumably as part of the construction of the second platform.
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Having looked at the minutes for the Cardiff Capital Region Regional Transport subcommittee (https://www.cardiffcapitalregion.wa...ings-of-the-regional-transport-sub-committee/), at their last meeting in January they were presented with an outline business case for the upgrade to Cardiff Central and the committee supported the scheme. It's quite likely that these images were prepared for that meeting and are now being warmed up for a press release about the next stage of the project.
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A quick picture at Cardiff Bay this evening - there are four of these cantilevers now installed.
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I see a whole load of new line closures have appeared on the Metro disruption page: https://tfw.wales/projects/metro/south-wales-metro/service-changes
A few "highlights":
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I see a whole load of new line closures have appeared on the Metro disruption page: https://tfw.wales/projects/metro/south-wales-metro/service-changes
A few "highlights":
- There's going to be a lot of disruption on the Rhymney line: it's going to be replaced with buses for most of April and May (with one or two strategic reopenings for "events" - presumably rugby matches and the like)
- The Bay line is shut next week, the weekend of the 5th/6th April and also the week of the 14th April
- Coryton is shut on Saturday April 5th (possibly this might be their next attempt to make the wires live, especially as it coincides with a shutdown of the Rhymney and Penarth lines)
- The line via Llandaf is also closed 5th and 6th April.
- There's a weeklong shutdown of the whole Vale of Glamorgan line (including Penarth) from 29th March.
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Today’s pictures - I took a ride on the Bay branch but didn't get very good shots from out of the window. However, I did notice this red shelter and ticket machine n the old platform at Cardiff Bay - are they new? I seem to recall that there was a machine there previously but this one looks like a new type. Also, to my surprise there's new dpearture screens (and possibly new ticket machines) at Queen Street too. Not sure when they went in but I used Queen Street a week or so ago and didn't notice them then.
EDIT - a look at Google Street View suggests that the machine has been there since around 2020, and the shelter since 2022.
EDIT - a look at Google Street View suggests that the machine has been there since around 2020, and the shelter since 2022.
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anthony263
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Those new machines are springing up everywhere on a lot of the tfw Network. The ones at Swansea also allow you to pay for car parking in the 24 hr multistorey next to the stn
I think the new screens at Queen Street went in at the end of last week.
Sure but then why do they mention an enlarged concourse unless they do just mean south side. But to me the issue isn't the concourse it's the tunnels which they're not doing anything to (probably listed) and they're not building an above platform walk way. So I don't understand how this helps the station capacity. Platform 0 still being separated is also annoying as it just adds to the friction of changing (you even get charged extra via PAYG)
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They also seem to have removed one of the two ticket machines at the bay. You can see a patch of concrete where one used to be.
Dai Corner
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This discussion should really be in the Infrastructure and Stations part of the forum, but am I alone in being pleased that Cardiff Central is being preserved?
Just look at the cheap and cheerful new structure at nearby Newport.
Just look at the cheap and cheerful new structure at nearby Newport.
Yes it should (sorry to pick on you by the way)
There’s a separate discussion here now:
Cardiff Central redevelopment
Isn't the concourse listed?....in which case there's not a lot they can do with it. Virtually the whole station is listed, not just the concourse. The only bit that's not is the current southern entrance.
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Daniel Boone
Member
Does anyone have any idea what the masts are for at the southern end of Cardiff Queen Street?
Oh, are they new? They're likely to be for new signalling if they are.
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I had a quick look as I cycled past today - two vertical I-beam masts have gone up close to the junction where the Bay line diverges. I'm pretty sure these are for future signal gantries as there are no plans for wires in this area.
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I guess it's possible that they've changed their plans and are electrifying all the way up to the top of the bay line? Especially now they might have more of an idea what the junction north of butetown station looks like (given crossrail approval). But as you say likely for signaling. Especially as that is probably roughly the location where signalling changes to line of sight operating.
59CosG95
Established Member
Based on what I've seen at Taffs Well & Pontypridd, these masts will likely support an OLE boom used as an over-track crossing (OTX). The cables in question will likely be the supply to/from the Bay branch and the rest of the valley lines.
Daniel Boone
Member
Ah! Good point. There are similar structures either end of Caerphilly as well.
Ah, that would make a lot of sense! There's a lot of trunking on the east side of the track labelled 25kV (just visible to the left of the picture), which I think brings the track supply down from the switching point just north of Queen Street North junction, and over to the right (behind the yellow handrails) there's a new concrete base that looks like it'll house some signalling equipment. So the over-track crossing could well be to bring power to the new signalling gear.
The 25 kV trunking seems to be on the side you'd want it to be to feed the Bay Line.
I would be surprised if power to signalling, as opposed to 25 kV feeds, couldn't just be run under the tracks.
Sorry, I didn't explain that very well - the 25kV trunking on the east side (correct for the Bay line) continues towards the camera in that photo, and I'm fairly sure (but will check next time I'm at Queen St) that it can be seen running round the back of Platform 2 in a couple of places. I think it then passes under the Rhymney line to the switching station. So I think the crossover could be taking 25kV to a step-down converter (apparently called a Principal Supply Point - there's one at Heath Junction too) where traction voltage is reduced to provide power to signalling equipment.
Ah OK. Never crossed my mind they would power signalling from the 25 kV supply.