South Wales 'Metro' updates

[Envoy]

This is being reported by local media today

https://www.broradio.fm/news/local/half-hourly-vale-trains-delayed-again/



I rarely agree with Andrew RT Davies on anything, but in this case, he's correct.
Whilst the Valley lines now have brand new Flirts, and increased frequencies to Pontypridd & Caerphilly with more services in the evenings and weekends, the VoG line is stuck at 1tph, 2 car 150s. It's impossible to disagree the line has been de-prioritised by TfW.

Totally agree with Andrew RT Davies on this: the Vale of Glamorgan Coast Line has been kicked into the long grass yet again by the Welsh Government/TFW. Why is it impossible not to have a half hourly service on this line - even if it means using the old Sprinters?

Furthermore, why is it taking so long to get the Class 398’s running from the Taff's Well depot? The lines on which they will run have been electrified and now the Rhymney line has also been electrified to thus allow the transfer of the 756’s. Training of main line crews on the FLIRTS has also been taking place though I guess they don't have viable numbers yet available for these trains to be on the VOG line?

I find it incredible that the Welsh Government have not fast tracked improvement to services on the VOG line in view of the fact that it serves the airport they own via the short bus link from Rhoose station.

 

[Kite159]

..

It's a strange one how they've allowed it to happen with so much growth and changes elsewhere. Surprised they can't find 2 150's to run a Cardiff - VOG - Bridgend semi fast service. Some VOG services are booked 4 car 150 currently.
Is the VOG line capable of handling 2tph or does any work need doing before hand? Bearing in mind that any works would need to be completed by NR, not TFW as it's not part of the Core Valleys Network.

Considering it has been used as a division route whenever the mainline has been blocked, and the number of freight trains which used to serve various places in that part of Wales have closed.

How many 153s have TfW got stored in Swansea?

 

[Qing4theloo]

Ah yes, the airport ...
Feel free to ignore this as the rantings of an armchair bore ...
Cardiff airport could double the number of passengers if they could somehow get all the passengers who go from South Wales to Bristol. One problem is the small number of destinations served by Cardiff, but to me an equally important aspect is its poor accessibility, especially by public transport.

It amazes me that the airport is not better served by public transport. Has nobody thought of running a direct rail service from Llanelli/Swansea/Neath Port Talbot/Bridgend, then onto Cardiff/Newport/Cwmbran (or Chepstow)?
Of course, it's catch-22 in that the numbers of people using such a service wouldn't make it profitable until passenger numbers from the airport are much higher. And passenger numbers, though they are creeping up, slowly, won't reach their potential while access is poor.

I had an argument on Facebook a while back with somebody at the airport who posts news updates, and who said that the airport has no relationship with Transport for Wales (!!). Maybe the new Airport CEO has fixed that?

Another matter worth considering here is that, though the Welsh government want to promote people using public transport, the airport makes more money if people drive there and park on the long-stay car parks.

 

[The exile]

Ah yes, the airport ...
Feel free to ignore this as the rantings of an armchair bore ...
Cardiff airport could double the number of passengers if they could somehow get all the passengers who go from South Wales to Bristol. One problem is the small number of destinations served by Cardiff, but to me an equally important aspect is its poor accessibility, especially by public transport.

Though the irony is that Bristol doesn’t really score in the accessibility stakes - OK, the “A” bus services aren’t bad but they’re still local buses on congested roads and still leave you with the problem of the other leg of the journey between 21.00 and 06.00 (hours which will be very familiar to airport users at one end or the other!)

 

[chargesmith]

Why is it impossible not to have a half hourly service on this line - even if it means using the old Sprinters?

The line itself is dual track all the way until the approach to Bridgend so I suspect that the issue is that the line between Barry and Cardiff can't take any more traffic - and we already know Cardiff Central is at capacity too.

So they probably could run a half hour service but it would be at the expense of another service from e.g. Barry Island or Penarth which is a much more well used service.

I'm also not aware that TfW have ever promised to run more than 1tph.

 

[Farigiraf]

The line itself is dual track all the way until the approach to Bridgend so I suspect that the issue is that the line between Barry and Cardiff can't take any more traffic - and we already know Cardiff Central is at capacity too.

So they probably could run a half hour service but it would be at the expense of another service from e.g. Barry Island or Penarth which is a much more well used service.

I'm also not aware that TfW have ever promised to run more than 1tph.

Reducing Barry Island from 3tph to 2tph, especially outside the summer, would in my opinion be a workable solution for running 2tph to Bridgend.

It's not even that much busier than the VOG 1tph stops: in the 2024/25 period Barry Island had 446k entries/exits, Rhoose had 172k (likely more once new flights e.g. Cardiff-Toronto start) and Llantwit Major had 266k. If you combine the last two that's 438k, and when you consider that they have 1/3 of the amount of services as Barry Island does, that's quite high. I think it's worth the tradeoff.

 

[Cardiff123]

The line itself is dual track all the way until the approach to Bridgend so I suspect that the issue is that the line between Barry and Cardiff can't take any more traffic - and we already know Cardiff Central is at capacity too.

So they probably could run a half hour service but it would be at the expense of another service from e.g. Barry Island or Penarth which is a much more well used service.

I'm also not aware that TfW have ever promised to run more than 1tph

In the original franchise specification in 2018, Keolis Amey planned to run 2tph Bridgend - Barry - Cardiff, with 1tph continuing up to Bargoed / Rhymney and the other 1tph terminating at Cardiff Central, so there would've been 5tph Barry - Cardiff.
This plan was cancelled after TfW did their "post-pandemic" review of services, leaving just 1 extra train in the morning and evening peaks instead, which still hasn't happened.
I don't think there's even any commitment to increase Sunday services beyond 1 train every 2 hours, which is just mad.

 

[MikePJ]

Going back to the "Future Timetable Review", which was a public consultation in April 2024 on timetable changes from December 2024, this mentioned the original aspiration to 2tph on the VoG line (planned for Dec 2025) and the need to defer it, with an interim solution being the introduction of two extra peaktime services (0730 Bridgend - 0830 Cardiff Central and 1730 Cardiff Central - 1830 Bridgend). The powerpoint accompanying the consultation (see below) says that the additional services are dependent upon the introduction of 756s on the VoG, which was expected to be during 2026. Of course, these are 2024 dates and the 398 and 756 introduction has been slower than planned, so I wouid expect these to be put back still further. Stock availability and staffing are likely to be part of the constraints - at present with traincrew having to be trained on new units there will be fewer traincrew available to run additional services.

RealTimeTrains doesn't show these two extra peak services in the May timetable, so it doesn't look likely that they're coming in the first half of this year.

 

[Cardiff123]

Going back to the "Future Timetable Review", which was a public consultation in April 2024 on timetable changes from December 2024, this mentioned the original aspiration to 2tph on the VoG line (planned for Dec 2025) and the need to defer it, with an interim solution being the introduction of two extra peaktime services (0730 Bridgend - 0830 Cardiff Central and 1730 Cardiff Central - 1830 Bridgend). The powerpoint accompanying the consultation (see below) says that the additional services are dependent upon the introduction of 756s on the VoG, which was expected to be during 2026. Of course, these are 2024 dates and the 398 and 756 introduction has been slower than planned, so I wouid expect these to be put back still further. Stock availability and staffing are likely to be part of the constraints - at present with traincrew having to be trained on new units there will be fewer traincrew available to run additional services.

RealTimeTrains doesn't show these two extra peak services in the May timetable, so it doesn't look likely that they're coming in the first half of this year.




View attachment 196102

I'd like to know what the thinking is in having the extra peak service just 10 minutes in the morning and 8 minutes in the evening, before the regular 1tph. It'll just result in the 1st service being rammed and the next one dead quiet, so the extra service ends up getting pulled.
Why not space out the two services at 30 minute intervals?

 

[MikePJ]

I'd like to know what the thinking is in having the extra peak service just 10 minutes in the morning and 8 minutes in the evening, before the regular 1tph. It'll just result in the 1st service being rammed and the next one dead quiet, so the extra service ends up getting pulled.
Why not space out the two services at 30 minute intervals?

Yeah, that’s not great. There must be some pathing constraint that makes it difficult.

 

[Qing4theloo]

It amazes me that the airport is not better served by public transport. Has nobody thought of running a direct rail service from Llanelli/Swansea/Neath Port Talbot/Bridgend, then onto Cardiff/Newport/Cwmbran (or Chepstow)?
Of course, it's catch-22 in that the numbers of people using such a service wouldn't make it profitable until passenger numbers from the airport are much higher. And passenger numbers, though they are creeping up, slowly, won't reach their potential while access is poor.

Having now been to Bridgend on the VoG line, I can see why this wouldn't work, at least without some tweaking. There is only a single cross-over from the VoG line to the SWML, on its westbound side. With the current layout, any train coming in Eastbound (from e.g. Swansea) would have to already change over to the westbound side before entering the station at Bridgend on the "wrong" platform, then cross over to the VoG line. It would hold up the trains actually going Westbound on the SWML.

To remedy this, they would need to put in at least another cross-over from the Eastbound to the Westbound WCML tracks, East of Bridgend station, even if they used the existing westbound VoG to Westbound WCML cross-over.*

*Hope this is the right term!

 

[zwk500]

Having now been to Bridgend on the VoG line, I can see why this wouldn't work, at least without some tweaking. There is only a single cross-over from the VoG line to the SWML, on its westbound side. With the current layout, any train coming in Eastbound (from e.g. Swansea) would have to already change over to the westbound side before entering the station at Bridgend on the "wrong" platform, then cross over to the VoG line. It would hold up the trains actually going Westbound on the SWML.

To remedy this, they would need to put in at least another cross-over from the Eastbound to the Westbound WCML tracks, East of Bridgend station, even if they used the existing westbound VoG to Westbound WCML cross-over.*

*Hope this is the right term!

For context, this is the junction you'd need to put the additional track in for Westbound moves (SWML towards Cardiff curves to the left, Vale of Glamorgan line heads straight. The third track in lower right is the bay for VOG services. Screenshot from Google Maps Street View of brackla street, Bridgend). The curvature is severe and putting a crossover or diamond here would like play havoc with the cant and cant deficiency requirements.

 

[Malkemy]

How has this thread existed for more than 10 years!???! Crazy.

 

[Envoy]

How has this thread existed for more than 10 years!???! Crazy.

It has existed for more than 10 years because it is a massive on-going project. Furthermore, the length of time taken to do the works increased due to Covid.

You should also check out the Traction/Rolling Stock section of the forum for the TFW Class 398 Stadler Citylink tram-trains as these will be the rolling stack intended for the central valleys- that's the lines going north from Cardiff to Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr.

 

[Qing4theloo]

You could argue that Metros (Metroes?) are never really finished anyway - more bits tend to get added as time goes on. This usually as houses get built, road traffic increases, etc.

 

[Smwrff]

There is already the original Core Metro - a Phase 2 (aka Cardiff CrossRail) and a Phase 3 (aka Burns Stations aka SWML enhancements). There will inevitably be further phases and this thread could still be here in another 10 years!!

 

[Tumbleweed]

There's also the proposals for NW Cardiff and possibly into RCT. So yeah, I don't think that this thread will 'run out of steam' anytime soon.

 

[Envoy]

It has existed for more than 10 years because it is a massive on-going project. Furthermore, the length of time taken to do the works increased due to Covid.

You also check out the Traction section of the forum for the TFW Class 398 Stadler as these will be the rolling stack intended for the central valleys- that's the valleys going north from Cardiff to Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Jan 2026 ==

For anyone coming new to all this, here is the Transport For Wales Metro information site:> https://tfw.wales/projects/metro/south-wales-metro

"We’ve been making significant improvements across the network to provide the people of South Wales with a more reliable, faster, greener and more accessible transport system."

 

[Malkemy]

It has existed for more than 10 years because it is a massive on-going project. Furthermore, the length of time taken to do the works increased due to Covid.

You should also check out the Traction/Rolling Stock section of the forum for the TFW Class 398 Stadler Citylink tram-trains as these will be the rolling stack intended for the central valleys- that's the lines going north from Cardiff to Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr.

I know about the scale of SWM but I never knew it took 10+ years. Dang. Also thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Envoy]

I know about the scale of SWM but I never knew it took 10+ years. Dang. Also thanks for the recommendation!

That’s Britain for you. Same with HS2 - the high speed line (250mph) that is linking London with Birmingham and was supposed to go further north as 2 spurs - one to Leeds and the other to Manchester whilst also providing a link to join the present line to Glasgow. The 2 northern legs got cancelled due to price over runs and delays with works on the southern leg.

Anyway, I digress so back to the Metro in south-east Wales. If you are interested, Google Professor Mark Barry Metro for he is the Geographer at Cardiff University who has been advising the Welsh Government on the project.

To get some idea of the ‘flows’ of trains in Britain try:> https://www.map.signalbox.io/?location=@51.44452,-2.16945,7Z
(Bear in mind that you are 8 hours behind the UK in time).

 

[56xx]

Has there ever been a realistic proposed timetable produced for services on the CVL based on 4tph to Treherbert, Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney? The 756s & 398s are said to give faster station to station times and possibly shorter dwell times but it would be encouraging to see what might be possible if and when all does eventually materialise.
Maybe something based on 3tph to the termini could happen in the interim?

 

[MikePJ]

I’ve never seen a proposed timetable, only a service pattern. TfW have said that the timetable will change once the 150s are eliminated, and change again once Queen Street has been upgraded.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Jan 2026 ==

Looks like another set of 756 test runs to Rhymney took place in the small hours of Saturday morning.

Realtime Trains | Departures from Rhymney all day on 24/01/2026

Train information at Rhymney all day on 24/01/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[mikefox]

I’ve never seen a proposed timetable, only a service pattern. TfW have said that the timetable will change once the 150s are eliminated, and change again once Queen Street has been upgraded.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Jan 2026 ==

Looks like another set of 756 test runs to Rhymney took place in the small hours of Saturday morning.

Realtime Trains | Departures from Rhymney all day on 24/01/2026

Train information at Rhymney all day on 24/01/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Looks like the Class 150s go at the next December at the timetable change.

 

[Caaardiff]

That's specific to the TAM Valleys line, likely on the assumption that 398's will have taken over those routes, which there's a whole different discussion about on these forums.
Don't be surprised to see 150's still about in December, whether on Mainline or Valleys routes.

 

[MikePJ]

Looks like the Class 150s go at the next December at the timetable change.

View attachment 196748

Aha! That style of powerpoint Gantt chart looked very familiar and so your post prompted me to go and look at the consultation page, and indeed it is from the newly-released 2026 project plan ("G5 notice of intended scope") - see attached.

Here's a summary of what's supposed to happen this year:

• 31st January: Aberdare toilet completion
• 9th Feb: Merthyr Vale and Treorchy toilet completion
• End Feb: Merthyr Tyfil, Abercynon & Tonypandy toilet completion
• March 23rd: Cardiff Bay branch wires to go live
• March 31st: Ty-Glas platform extension entry into service; Cwmbach and Llwynypia toilet completion
• April to mid-June: 398s enter service on Cardiff Bay - Pontypridd services
• July - September: 398s replace 756s on the TAM lines and 756s replace 231s and 150s on Rhymney/Bargoed <> Barry Island services
• August - high voltage connection of Ninian Park Feeder station to core valley lines overhead line network
• October - Bute Town station (note that it's written as two words) Platform 2 opening.
• Dec 13th: No 150s on the TAM lines, new faster timetable. (Note that 150s on Rhymney will still be around because they're still needed for the Vale of Glamorgan service)
• Various unspecified level boarding works are also listed, as are various signalling and track works that I don't understand from the relatively cryptic notes.

These project plans are intended to notify other industry bodies of the planned works, so TfW don't necessarily have to stick to them. But the plan and dates do capture a snapshot of what's expected at the time it was drawn up, so its fair to say that 398 introduction is definitely still on the agenda.

 

[CapitalStar378]

Makes me think that the writing off of the 398s has been very much exaggerated on other threads, especially as the document is new.

 

[Daniel Boone]

August - high voltage connection of Ninian Park Feeder station to core valley lines overhead line network

Would this address the concerns mentioned in the 398 thread about the OLE tripping out?

 

[MikePJ]

Would this address the concerns mentioned in the 398 thread about the OLE tripping out?

Some of them, I think.

I've attached a Major Feeder Diagram showing how the OLE is fed - it's in a previous consultation document - however, the resolution is too low to read it in detail. There's also a description of the electrical control room arrangements in an older document from 2023.

The description says that the main feeder station is at Tonteg, where power comes from the National Grid's nearby substation at Upper Boat. There is a feeder station described as "Ninian Park" (the CVL side) and "Canton" (Network Rail side) - the latter being the supply for the main line, starting at Cardiff Central. The CVL side appears to supply both the charging roads in Canton depot and the City Line overhead, but it's not 100% clear from the diagram. However, given that the project plan says that it will be connected this coming August, that makes sense - it will provided a redundant feeder mechanism in case the Tonteg one fails, and may also provide additional power to handle the extra load from electric trains on the Rhymney line.

There is no independent supply to the Rhymney line - power is routed via switching stations at Radyr and Queen Street to the Rhymney line. However, the switchgear looks very much like it's dual-redundant, with two separate cables so that if one fails (or needs maintenance) then the other can be used.

There are "track sectioning stations" (i.e. isolating switches) at various points so that the individual branches of the TAM lines can be isolated (i.e. switched off) for maintenance. But there's no way (for example) to provide electrical power between Merthyr and Abercynon if the system fails further south.

 

[tfw756rider]

Aha! That style of powerpoint Gantt chart looked very familiar and so your post prompted me to go and look at the consultation page, and indeed it is from the newly-released 2026 project plan ("G5 notice of intended scope") - see attached.

Here's a summary of what's supposed to happen this year:

• 31st January: Aberdare toilet completion
• 9th Feb: Merthyr Vale and Treorchy toilet completion
• End Feb: Merthyr Tyfil, Abercynon & Tonypandy toilet completion
• March 23rd: Cardiff Bay branch wires to go live
• March 31st: Ty-Glas platform extension entry into service; Cwmbach and Llwynypia toilet completion
• April to mid-June: 398s enter service on Cardiff Bay - Pontypridd services
• July - September: 398s replace 756s on the TAM lines and 756s replace 231s and 150s on Rhymney/Bargoed <> Barry Island services
• August - high voltage connection of Ninian Park Feeder station to core valley lines overhead line network
• October - Bute Town station (note that it's written as two words) Platform 2 opening.
• Dec 13th: No 150s on the TAM lines, new faster timetable. (Note that 150s on Rhymney will still be around because they're still needed for the Vale of Glamorgan service)
• Various unspecified level boarding works are also listed, as are various signalling and track works that I don't understand from the relatively cryptic notes.

These project plans are intended to notify other industry bodies of the planned works, so TfW don't necessarily have to stick to them. But the plan and dates do capture a snapshot of what's expected at the time it was drawn up, so its fair to say that 398 introduction is definitely still on the agenda.

What's the web source of the document please?

 

[MikePJ]

What's the web source of the document please?

It’s https://tfw.wales/projects/metro/south-wales-metro/cvl-consultation