South Wales 'Metro' updates

[J663738]

The rake on the current steps at Cathays is incredibly steep, if you put plans for your own home with a rake like this, the planners would laugh at you. Also the platforms are so narrow, considering it can be a very busy station at times.
Taking all that into account, they then put in a barrier gate to stop fare dodgers (students??) and people who used the station to avoid Central and Queens street (which I did many years ago when I wanted to re-use my day ticket!!)
From a HSE point of view this only compounds the dangers of people queuing to get out.

Will there be a lift for disabled access or is there just not enough room at that station?

 

[tigermonstera]

Will there be a lift for disabled access or is there just not enough room at that station?

Under current plans:
On the Senghenydd road side, the new bridge will have a new freestanding lift and staircase. On the Park Place side, the bridge will connect to one of the CSL's existing lifts and staircases.

The planning application is under 23/01307/PRAP on the Council's planning website. I recommend reading the Pro Forma document, as it contains renders of the new bridge and lift.

 

[zwk500]

The rake on the current steps at Cathays is incredibly steep, if you put plans for your own home with a rake like this, the planners would laugh at you. Also the platforms are so narrow, considering it can be a very busy station at times.
Taking all that into account, they then put in a barrier gate to stop fare dodgers (students??) and people who used the station to avoid Central and Queens street (which I did many years ago when I wanted to re-use my day ticket!!)
From a HSE point of view this only compounds the dangers of people queuing to get out.

Will there be a lift for disabled access or is there just not enough room at that station?

According to this article: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/plans-approved-upgrade-cardiff-train-27429792 it will have lifts

A new footbridge will be built, with a staircase and lift on the Park Place side of the station. The metal bridge will cross above the railway directly into the first floor of the Centre for Student Life building - instead of descending straight to ground level like the current one.

 

[J663738]

First new 3 carriage 756 in passenger service today on PEN-CRY-CPH. TfW had a photographer and drone operator in attendance.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Jul 2025 ==

The non stop run from Queens St to Caerphilly looked to be at top speed, very impressive (unless you needed to get off at an intermediate station that is) Penarth to Caerphilly in 25 minutes!

 

[AdamWW]

The non stop run from Queens St to Caerphilly looked to be at top speed, very impressive (unless you needed to get off at an intermediate station that is) Penarth to Caerphilly in 25 minutes!

Presumably once all diagrams are covered by 756s they will try restoring the stops.

 

[tigermonstera]

Presumably once all diagrams are covered by 756s they will try restoring the stops.

TfW issued a response to a Freedom of Information Request this month which would appear to suggest this:

Six trains per hour run between Caerphilly and Cardiff (two of these run services run fast to Cardiff Queen Street as a performance improvement will continue until our new Class 756s enter service on these lines in July 2025).

 

[J663738]

Meant to get a new 756 back, but got side tracked visiting Caerphilly Castle, just reopened after 2 year visitor refurb. I am ashamed to say I've never been inside it, it's absolutely huge and well worth a visit, if you're on a Metro day trip here.

 

[MikePJ]

Under current plans:
On the Senghenydd road side, the new bridge will have a new freestanding lift and staircase. On the Park Place side, the bridge will connect to one of the CSL's existing lifts and staircases.

The planning application is under 23/01307/PRAP on the Council's planning website. I recommend reading the Pro Forma document, as it contains renders of the new bridge and lift.

Here's the most useful drawing, showing a plan view of where the bridge will go. Screengrab below, full drawing attached.

My immediate concern is that foot passengers will be routed up the awful stairs on the front of the Centre for Student Life ("CSL building") which are on a weird angle and catch out the unawares. I use them most days and I still find them inconvenient.

 

[tigermonstera]

My immediate concern is that foot passengers will be routed up the awful stairs on the front of the Centre for Student Life ("CSL building") which are on a weird angle and catch out the unawares. I use them most days and I still find them inconvenient.

There is an alternate option. If you look at the document "WAYFINDING SIGNAGE (FOR INFO ONLY)" attached to the application, it shows another internal staircase and lift within the CSL nearer to Cathays Station. It appears that station signage is being put within that staircase, which would suggest they plan to use that one.

 

[MikePJ]

There is an alternate option. If you look at the document "WAYFINDING SIGNAGE (FOR INFO ONLY)" attached to the application, it shows another internal staircase and lift within the CSL nearer to Cathays Station. It appears that station signage is being put within that staircase, which would suggest they plan to use that one.

Ah, I must have misunderstood - if the university is willing to make that internal space open to the public then that's better.

 

[tigermonstera]

Ah, I must have misunderstood - if the university is willing to make that internal space open to the public then that's better.

Out of interest I've had a look through the CSL's planning documents and I can see in an amendments document that this part of the building is described as:

The entrance points for the stair and lift serving the upper terrace and future bridge link

Which would suggest it was specifically designed to serve the bridge (it only connects to the terrace and to street level). The document was published in 2016, so hopefully nothing has changed in the decade(!) since then.

One thing that has changed, however:

The lift has also been increased in size to 16 person capacity to suit future Network Rail requirements.

Not only would Cathays Station be transferred to TfW 4 years later in 2020, but it doesn't look like Network Rail itself will be around for much longer either! (i.e. following GBR).

 

[Envoy]

Meant to get a new 756 back, but got side tracked visiting Caerphilly Castle, just reopened after 2 year visitor refurb. I am ashamed to say I've never been inside it, it's absolutely huge and well worth a visit, if you're on a Metro day trip here.

Anyone planning on visiting a CADW castle - such as Caerphilly - should not use contactless as they have no proof of train travel. Buy real tickets for the 2 for 1 entry for rail passengers and make sure you keep the tickets on arrival. (Goodness knows why they can't offer entry at half price as this discriminates against single people).

"We’ve teamed up with Transport for Wales to offer people travelling to Cadw sites by train — 2 for the price of 1 entry to our staffed sites — supporting people who travel sustainably to our sites".

2-FOR-1 Entry Offer with Transport for Wales | Cadw

cadw.gov.wales

 

[MikePJ]

Out of interest I've had a look through the CSL's planning documents and I can see in an amendments document that this part of the building is described as:

Which would suggest it was specifically designed to serve the bridge (it only connects to the terrace and to street level). The document was published in 2016, so hopefully nothing has changed in the decade(!) since then.

I work in the university Main Building, opposite the CSL, so I went and took some pictures this morning.

Here’s the future station entrance: it’s currently locked.


Pressing the camera against the glass you can see that there’s no finishing been done inside, and everything is hard and durable. I’d always assumed this was a fire staircase but it isn’t…
(EDIT - there is a lift concealed to the right of the lobby near the "D0" sign).



Up on the terrace level, this weird corner is where the staircase comes out. The locked gate currently prevents members of the public reaching the area where the bridge will eventually be connected. (EDIT - according to the plans, there is another set of doors into the stairwell out of sight around the corner, so that passengers coming off the bridge come straight into the stairwell area and get a choice of using the lift or the stairs)

Looking through the gate, the bridge will connect to this terrace where the temporary parapet currently is (behind the lighting stand).

 

[tigermonstera]

I work in the university Main Building, opposite the CSL, so I went and took some pictures this morning.

Good photos! I assume the stairwell is unfinished as, if nothing else, you would assume it needs tactile paving?

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I used to study in the CSL every day for three years, and despite it’s massive size it is highly, highly lacking in inside study space (largely because so much of it is devoted to about twenty private counselling rooms which always seemed to be empty), with queues for the lifts and the Costa. I hope having a major reason for the public to use it doesn’t make this worse.

The Cathays station staff always used to irritate me. I seem to remember they’d often leave the gateline and walk to the entrance of the adjacent university ABACWS building, where three of them would have a nice smoke/vape, meaning you had to cross fumes to enter the building. All the while the station gatelines were being remotely monitored.

 

[tigermonstera]

TfW issued a response to a Freedom of Information Request this month which would appear to suggest this:

Having reread this, I now realise it may contain some new information on the implementation of the metro timetable?

It appears to suggest the following order of events:

1. "Once all these new trains are in service, we’ll first accelerate the rail timetable, delivering faster journeys to the heads of each Valley, reducing journey times to around 55 minutes."
2. "Initially, two out of the four services per hour from Treherbert will travel to Cardiff Queen Street and then onwards to Cardiff Bay. In addition to this, we’ll continue to run our Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Bay shuttle services, maintaining a frequency of 4 trains per hour."
3. "In late 2027, the timetable will be altered to allow for two out of four services from Merthyr, Aberdare and Treherbert to travel to Cardiff Queen Street and then onwards to Cardiff Bay, delivering 6 trains per hour to Cardiff Bay."
4. "we’ll deliver four trains per hour from the Heads of each Valley into Cardiff,
   and through Pontypridd, in 2027. This will deliver a train every 5 minutes from Pontypridd to Cardiff."

 

[MikePJ]

I used to study in the CSL every day for three years, and despite it’s massive size it is highly, highly lacking in inside study space (largely because so much of it is devoted to about twenty private counselling rooms which always seemed to be empty), with queues for the lifts and the Costa. I hope having a major reason for the public to use it doesn’t make this worse.

The Cathays station staff always used to irritate me. I seem to remember they’d often leave the gateline and walk to the entrance of the adjacent university ABACWS building, where three of them would have a nice smoke/vape, meaning you had to cross fumes to enter the building. All the while the station gatelines were being remotely monitored.

Since you left the university we've had a security clampdown, so you can't get into the CSL foyer without a badge. The layout of the interface with the station means that most people won't find their way into the CSL or the Student Union unless they're deliberately looking for them. (And without going too far off topic - yes, I also hate the CSL building, it's really a pretty crummy bit of architecture but it was the then-vice-chancellor's pet project. For bonus points, at certain times of year the curved frontage focusses the sun onto a spot just outside the door of Main Building so you get a hot spot on the wall!)

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Since you left the university we've had a security clampdown, so you can't get into the CSL foyer without a badge. The layout of the interface with the station means that most people won't find their way into the CSL or the Student Union unless they're deliberately looking for them. (And without going too far off topic - yes, I also hate the CSL building, it's really a pretty crummy bit of architecture but it was the then-vice-chancellor's pet project. For bonus points, at certain times of year the curved frontage focusses the sun onto a spot just outside the door of Main Building so you get a hot spot on the wall!)

Oh gosh, they were starting that when I was coming to the end. How infuriating. I actually love the building as it’s literally the only airy, open study space, but it was always closed for stupid (often third party) events, and half of it was gatekept for counselling sessions that just didn’t seem to happen.

 

[MikePJ]

Good photos! I assume the stairwell is unfinished as, if nothing else, you would assume it needs tactile paving?

Thank you! I also assume it's unfinished - it definitely wants some paint, signage, etc as well as the tactile surfaces.

It appears to suggest the following order of events:

1. "Once all these new trains are in service, we’ll first accelerate the rail timetable, delivering faster journeys to the heads of each Valley, reducing journey times to around 55 minutes."
2. "Initially, two out of the four services per hour from Treherbert will travel to Cardiff Queen Street and then onwards to Cardiff Bay. In addition to this, we’ll continue to run our Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Bay shuttle services, maintaining a frequency of 4 trains per hour."
3. "In late 2027, the timetable will be altered to allow for two out of four services from Merthyr, Aberdare and Treherbert to travel to Cardiff Queen Street and then onwards to Cardiff Bay, delivering 6 trains per hour to Cardiff Bay."
4. "we’ll deliver four trains per hour from the Heads of each Valley into Cardiff,
   and through Pontypridd, in 2027. This will deliver a train every 5 minutes from Pontypridd to Cardiff."

Interesting! So the Pontypridd - Cardiff Bay service (which works Pontypridd - Bay - Queen St - Bay - Pontypridd) will be replaced with a 30 minute shuttle from Queen St to Cardiff Bay, interleaved with Treherbert - Cardiff Bay trains every 30 minutes?

It's also worth noting that the Queen St South Junction trackwork change is needed to increase the frequency to the Bay, and that's not on the project plan for the rest of 2025, so it might happen as late as the summer of 2027.

 

[Daniel Boone]

Thank you! I also assume it's unfinished - it definitely wants some paint, signage, etc as well as the tactile surfaces.

Interesting! So the Pontypridd - Cardiff Bay service (which works Pontypridd - Bay - Queen St - Bay - Pontypridd) will be replaced with a 30 minute shuttle from Queen St to Cardiff Bay, interleaved with Treherbert - Cardiff Bay trains every 30 minutes?

It's also worth noting that the Queen St South Junction trackwork change is needed to increase the frequency to the Bay, and that's not on the project plan for the rest of 2025, so it might happen as late as the summer of 2027.

Any idea on the specifics of the track work required for the south of Queen Street?

 

[tigermonstera]

Interesting! So the Pontypridd - Cardiff Bay service (which works Pontypridd - Bay - Queen St - Bay - Pontypridd) will be replaced with a 30 minute shuttle from Queen St to Cardiff Bay, interleaved with Treherbert - Cardiff Bay trains every 30 minutes?

Presumably. It may also just be a case of extending the Pontypridd service to Treherbert?

It's also worth noting that the Queen St South Junction trackwork change is needed to increase the frequency to the Bay, and that's not on the project plan for the rest of 2025, so it might happen as late as the summer of 2027.

Do we know what the capacity of Queen Street South and Queen Street North will be after the change?

Something else that will need to happen is the conversion of the Bay Line to line of sight, which will require a closure. Does anyone know when this might happen?

 

[MikePJ]

Any idea on the specifics of the track work required for the south of Queen Street?

Have a look at the diagrams here https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/south-wales-metro-updates.117763/page-217#post-7005059

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Jul 2025 ==

Presumably. It may also just be a case of extending the Pontypridd service to Treherbert?

Yes, possibly - I'm not sure how the planning would work best with a longer trip out to Treherbert and back. At the moment there are three units and they each do a shuttle run between the Bay and Queen St in between their runs to Pontypridd, timed so that it gives a 4tph service on the bay branch.

Do we know what the capacity of Queen Street South and Queen Street North will be after the change?

Something else that will need to happen is the conversion of the Bay Line to line of sight, which will require a closure. Does anyone know when this might happen?

I don't know the capacity figures but the rebuild should allow parallel moves so that a train from the Bay can access platform 4 whilst a train from Central can access platform 5.

The shutdown for converstion to line-of-sight (and the consequent driver training) is programmed but we don't have a date for it. Last I heard was from Modern Railways, quote in this post.

 

[J663738]

Not exactly on the metro, but an overheard observation from an American family travelling from Central to Queen's St. They were amazed at how over grown and rural the railways looked even in a big city! In particular they could not under stand why the 'trees' (Buddleias I think) were allowed to grow all over the railways here. If the journey was not so short I would have explained that just about every weedkiller has been banned in the UK.
But yes, we have all got used to it, but with a fresh pair of eyes it does look slightly ridiculous. My journey home the 'trees' are hitting the train windows, they have been left so long.

They did like the new trains though!

 

[Envoy]

Not exactly on the metro, but an overheard observation from an American family travelling from Central to Queen's St. They were amazed at how over grown and rural the railways looked even in a big city! In particular they could not under stand why the 'trees' (Buddleias I think) were allowed to grow all over the railways here. If the journey was not so short I would have explained that just about every weedkiller has been banned in the UK.
But yes, we have all got used to it, but with a fresh pair of eyes it does look slightly ridiculous. My journey home the 'trees' are hitting the train windows, they have been left so long.

They did like the new trains though!

Even if they did not want to use weedkillers, they should at least hack the buddleias down. Too late now for this year as they have now gone to seed to blow and the wind and create yet more bushes.

 

[MikePJ]

A quick Cardiff Bay update from my ride to work this morning: a fencing contractor is on site replacing the white hoardings with green palisade fence alongside Cardiff Bay Station, on the boundary with Lloyd George Avenue. There's groundworks (drains and conduits, I think) still going on in the circulation area between the station entrances and the old station building.

 

[J663738]

A quick Cardiff Bay update from my ride to work this morning: a fencing contractor is on site replacing the white hoardings with green palisade fence alongside Cardiff Bay Station, on the boundary with Lloyd George Avenue. There's groundworks (drains and conduits, I think) still going on in the circulation area between the station entrances and the old station building.

Yes, I went down there yesterday and other than the fence, very little has changed since three weeks ago. They seem to have very few staff working on both stations at the moment. I suppose there is some sort of cash flow management going on.

Considering the massive length of the platform, if you stand in the middle, you can neither see nor hear either of the two tannoy screens. When at the extreme end of the platform, it seems a shame to have to walk all the way back!

 

[chrisjo]

Returning to the subject of lineside vegetation...

 

[CapitalStar378]

Returning to the subject of lineside vegetation...
View attachment 184807

"...construction of the Metro - which we'll be working to deliver over the coming years"? I was under the impression that the project was nearing completion, this makes it sound like spades have just gone into the ground

 

[MikePJ]

They seem to have very few staff working on both stations at the moment.

I realised the other day that Butetown almost certainly won't open until the line changes to line-of-sight operation, because a) there's a fixed distant signal on the down platform that'll have to stay there until the signalling rules change, and b) the crossing between the two platforms is a tramway-style flat crossing so not compatible with heavy-rail-style operation.

 

[AdamWW]

Returning to the subject of lineside vegetation...
View attachment 184807

A nice example I think of a spelling checker not flagging a typo as it is a word, just not the one they wanted (or one that it exactly in common use):
"...they will be manged with machinery"