TfW class 398 Stadler Citylink tram trains

[norbitonflyer]

Was going to try it today but gave up the expedition at Paddington as GWR was cancelling everything. (I had already had to cope with a diverted bus, a District Line suspension, an SWR non-stopping Vauxhall, and 12 minute gaps on the Bakerloo)

EDIT at 1236. Definietly the right call to go home from Paddington at 0900 when i saw the 0918 was cancelled, just as I was about to buy a ticket.
I had thought of risking the 0948, which should have connected with the last 398 run to Pontypridd. But it's running nearly an hour late, and has only just arrived at cardiff central - whilst the 398 is just passing Taffs Well on its last run of the day!.

 

[H&I]

Was going to try it today but gave up the expedition at Paddington as GWR was cancelling everything. (I had already had to cope with a diverted bus, a District Line suspension, an SWR non-stopping Vauxhall, and 12 minute gaps on the Bakerloo)

I caught the 509 National Express coach from Victoria Coach Station this morning, which departed at 00:30 and arrived at Cardiff at 03:30. That gave me plenty of time to catch the first train from Cardiff Central to Pontypridd to get that inaugural Class 398 journey.

 

[chargesmith]

The interior is too warm for my liking, and I notice that some the staff were also holding handheld fans as well, so it’s not just me. I can hardly feel the change in temperature when boarding. There isn’t that rush of cool air I’d expect. Hopefully it is a setting issue rather than the air conditioning already being at its limits.

Personal preference and the heatwave are definitely factors. My wife hated the 756s for the first few months saying they were too hot onboard, she even said the 150s were better "because at least you can open the window on them"...

Did you get a chance to ride a 756 in the same conditions to compare?

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Personal preference and the heatwave are definitely factors. My wife hated the 756s for the first few months saying they were too hot onboard, she even said the 150s were better "because at least you can open the window on them"...

Did you get a chance to ride a 756 in the same conditions to compare?

That's an interesting one. I was on plenty of 756s yesterday and it was lovely and cool aboard.

 

[GEC465]

Nooo this has to be a dream surely! 398s? In service?

Good to see that one is finally in service

 

[DaiBee]

Just transferred from a 398 to a 756, and the 756 is definitely cooler - not massively, but you can feel the air con. The air con wasn't really noticeable in the 398 but it wasn't unpleasantly warm (at least compared to outside) so it's obviously doing something.

Otherwise, echo other comments on here that for a tram-train it's pretty impressive. Roomy, quick, surprisingly quiet and the ride is fine. A bit of minor hunting and not as good as a Flirt , you definitely feel the rougher bits of track, but it's fine.

 

[H&I]

Personal preference and the heatwave are definitely factors. My wife hated the 756s for the first few months saying they were too hot onboard, she even said the 150s were better "because at least you can open the window on them"...

Did you get a chance to ride a 756 in the same conditions to compare?

The 756s are definitely cooler.

 

[chargesmith]

The 756s are definitely cooler.

Will be interesting to see if this is because the systems are different or if it's just a case of not going too over the top with anything initially.

 

[thejsa]

The air con is apparently better at the ends than the middle, per the guard who very kindly pointed out a free table which was (at least for a while) much cooler!

Not sure it’s really up to 30° days as-is - the 756 back from Pontypridd was much cooler - but I expect most of the time these trains will be perfectly pleasant.

 

[tfw756rider]

I thought it was only supposed to be Queen Street to Bay today?

See post #1,931.

Direct services between Pontypridd and Cardiff Bay will be cancelled. You should use alternative train services, changing at Cardiff Queen Street to complete your journey.

was changed to

Direct services between Pontypridd and Cardiff Bay will be cancelled after 13:26 each day. You should use alternative train services, changing at Cardiff Queen Street to complete your journey.

 

[Envoy]

I took a ride on the 398 mid morning. The seats are fine for such services and the ride is also good. The coaches were too warm but oddly enough, the car at the southern end was near damn perfect. So, this brings me to question as to why this should be so? Was cool air leaking out from the drivers cab? Were settings wrong in the middle and north car? Was a temperature sensor external to the train and sitting in the sun on the southern end of the vehicle whilst the other cars had their sensors in the shade? If that is the case, then perhaps it would be prudent to have such external sensors where they are most likely to get direct sun light?

The slim pillars & big windows are great. (The Class 170’s also have slim pillars and big windows - a shame newer trains did not follow that example).

I also note that work at Cardiff Bay station continues at a slow pace. I understand that there are no plans to have toilets at this station. I would have thought it desirable to have people ‘empty their tanks’ prior to setting off in trains without toilets. Anyway, I suppose that is a matter for the main Metro forum.

PS. Don’t assume that travel is cheapest going contactless if you have a Railcard or Welsh Bus Pass.

 

[AdamWW]

PS. Don’t assume that travel is cheapest going contactless if you have a Railcard

I believe they are working on that.

 

[Dunnyrail]

Is there any update on introduction as Modern Railways issue july 2026 suggests introduction of Tram Trains about now pp64 at start of article.

 

[John R]

Is there any update on introduction as Modern Railways issue july 2026 suggests introduction of Tram Trains about now pp64 at start of article.

Er, the last 20 posts talk about members’ experiences of the first day of operation today!

 

[chargesmith]

Er, the last 20 posts talk about members’ experiences of the first day of operation today!

Easy mistake to make when you only get one notification for new posts and there's a page break - have fallen foul of this myself a few times!

 

[tfw756rider]

Has anyone in here taken any unobstructed photos (ideally a front-side angled view with headlights) of "de-yellowed" 398028 in service, and if so, would they mind uploading them with a Creative Commons licence to Wikimedia Commons? There aren't any such photos on there yet - the photo on the 398 Wikipedia article is still "yellow-chinned" 398027 on test at Abercynon in April 2025.

 

[56xx]

As far as I'm aware all the latest test runs and today's first passenger service have been with units with no yellow end stickers. Have they been done away with on the TfW core valley lines?

 

[800001]

the units were all delivered with out yellow and have always been planned to be just grey.

They had yellow vinyl stuck on as initially there was an issue with the light brightness (I believe), so the light issue must now be resolved.

 

[enapace]

I’m getting a 7am train from Cathays tomorrow going to central connecting to GWR to go to Bath but hopefully I might see one going to the bay.

 

[norbitonflyer]

I’m getting a 7am train from Cathays tomorrow going to central connecting to GWR to go to Bath but hopefully I might see one going to the bay.

RTT is showing one out today (same unit as yesterday) leaving Pontypridd at 0655, calling at Cathays at 0716.

 

[enapace]

RTT is showing one out today (same unit as yesterday) leaving Pontypridd at 0655, calling at Cathays at 0716.

Ah shame I’m just going miss it then by 15 mins. I’m leaving on the 7:02 from Cathays to central catch the 7:27 to Bath.

 

[StripeyNick]

RTT is showing one out today (same unit as yesterday) leaving Pontypridd at 0655, calling at Cathays at 0716.

It's now showing 031 as being the unit on the diagram today.
Going to give it a try later

 

[AdamWW]

Today they don't seem to be doing the shuttle from the Bay up to Queen Street and back between arriving from Pontypridd and heading North again.

There is a 150 in the Bay bay platform in Queen Street. (Yesterday there was one at the bay platform at Pontypridd but it's long enough to fit two trains in).

And today the guard was working the doors. Even with the more efficient gap fillers it extends dwell time quite a bit waiting for two sets of door close cycle.

 

[Snow1964]

Today they don't seem to be doing the shuttle from the Bay up to Queen Street and back between arriving from Pontypridd and heading North again.

There is a 150 in the Bay bay platform in Queen Street. (Yesterday there was one at the bay platform at Pontypridd but it's long enough to fit two trains in).

And today the guard was working the doors. Even with the more efficient gap fillers it extends dwell time quite a bit waiting for two sets of door close cycle.

Strangely the 398 introduction seems to have broken ability to explain on TfW website, currently showing update that expired yesterday evening

Services will be cancelled in the Pontypridd to Cardiff Bay area.

We expect the incident to last until 23:59 on 23/06/2026 and disruption to services is expected from 13:00 on 23/06/2026 until 23:59 on 23/06/2026.

Homepage | Transport for Wales

Transport for Wales | Buy Cheap Train Tickets and Check Train Times

tfw.wales

 

[tfw756rider]

Is 398031 "de-yellowed"?

 

[VR494]

Today they don't seem to be doing the shuttle from the Bay up to Queen Street and back between arriving from Pontypridd and heading North again.

There is a 150 in the Bay bay platform in Queen Street. (Yesterday there was one at the bay platform at Pontypridd but it's long enough to fit two trains in).

And today the guard was working the doors. Even with the more efficient gap fillers it extends dwell time quite a bit waiting for two sets of door close cycle.

Guards are currently undergoing training on these runs too.

There’s two methods of operating the doors and what you’ve probably seen is guards training in the degraded method of work or FCDO, full conductor door operation.

Normal method will be DDO or driver door operation with a bell code 1-2 and repeat before closing. Guards will not be giving drivers 2 or ready to start, unless in degraded mode and RA will be used when cleared for Cardiff Central later this year.

The launch yesterday didn’t really go smooth, and there were problems with the doors and getting brake release I was informed on a few occasions.

The HVAC in the saloon will need addressing too, having two units applied for the cabs and using by product for the saloon is not going to be efficient. If they had gone for the mid range option in the first instance, and reportedly now it’s costing so much in toilets they will have to be retrofitted at some point.

They do look pacer like, and much better appearance without the yellow ends!

 

[tfw756rider]

reportedly now it’s costing so much in toilets they will have to be retrofitted at some point.

How will toilets be able to be retrofitted to the 398s? Yes, they're only 3 inches narrower than the 756s, but I thought the Citylink tram-train platform only allowed for a non-accessible toilet, which wouldn't be allowed on its own in Wales/Britain. Or would they somehow get some sort-of "lightweight" accessible toilet fitted anyway, just with a tighter pass-through gap next to it?

 

[stormcoffeecat]

Has anyone in here taken any unobstructed photos (ideally a front-side angled view with headlights) of "de-yellowed" 398028 in service, and if so, would they mind uploading them with a Creative Commons licence to Wikimedia Commons? There aren't any such photos on there yet - the photo on the 398 Wikipedia article is still "yellow-chinned" 398027 on test at Abercynon in April 2025

Here you go:

File:398028 at Pontypridd.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

File:398028 at Cardiff Bay.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

 

[eta]

The launch yesterday didn’t really go smooth, and there were problems with the doors and getting brake release I was informed on a few occasions.

When I was on the last run of the day up to Pontypridd, they had repeated issues getting interlock after closing the doors on the left hand side of the train; they thought it might have been due to someone jumping out of the train mid-close-sequence at Cathays, but the issue repeated itself at the next stop too. (In both instances, they could fix it by cycling the doors again, though.)

(edit)

The HVAC in the saloon will need addressing too, having two units applied for the cabs and using by product for the saloon is not going to be efficient. If they had gone for the mid range option in the first instance, and reportedly now it’s costing so much in toilets they will have to be retrofitted at some point.

...that explains why the ends of the trains were much cooler than the middle bit, then...! (a kindly TfW guard tipped us off that this was the case when we said we'd be staying on for the full run!)

 

[thejsa]

PS. Don’t assume that travel is cheapest going contactless if you have a Railcard or Welsh Bus Pass.

I believe they are working on that.

Yes - there's currently a trial version of the TfW app which lets you add railcards; as far as I understand it, it's supposed to charge you the non-PAYG Railcard walk-up fare, if it's cheaper. (I had to fill in some missing taps, so I'm not sure whether it's worked yet.)