South Wales 'Metro' updates

[chargesmith]

Just* seen something decidedly FLIRT-like go through Llantwit Major on the VOG line towards Cardiff. Test run maybe?
(*11:35. Scheduled trains to Cardiff usually pass through at <hr>:57)

It was 756113 on an empty stock move. Probably testing or training.

 

[Daniel Boone]

Just* seen something decidedly FLIRT-like go through Llantwit Major on the VOG line towards Cardiff. Test run maybe?
(*11:35. Scheduled trains to Cardiff usually pass through at <hr>:57)

From the 231/746 thread:

Morning all

Here’s 756113 as 3G05 0702 Cardiff Canton Sidings to Bridgend at LWM Llanilltud Fawr / Llantwit Major.

There was one driver up front and two crew, who thought that “next year” was roughly when we might expect to see the 756 on this line.

 

[MikePJ]

I thought I'd revisit the project plan (this is my post below summarising it from 27th January 2026) and look at how things are progressing.

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.

Aberdare toilets: yes, completed
Merthyr Vale toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)
Treorchy toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)
Merthyr Tydfil toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)
Abercynon toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)
Tonypandy toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)

Cardiff Bay wires: completed - live and in use by 398s. Wires were live at the end of May, so two months later than planned.
Ty-Glas platform extension: completed 4th April 2026 (pretty much to plan)
Cwmbach toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)
Llwynypia toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)

398s on Cardiff Bay - Pontypridd: yes, in service as of July 2026, so around 3 months behind schedule
398s on TAM lines: not started
756s on Barry Island trains: yes, now in service (though still plenty of 231s on that route)
Additional feeder at Ninian Park: not clear but likely taking place during evening shutdowns this week (10th-15th August)
Bute Town station: work still in progress, no announcement made

It's worth noting that the key event of this year is the timetable change in December. If TfW can get enough 398s in service reliably to cover the Pontypridd-Cardiff Bay diagrams, that will allow them to remove the 150s from those routes and they can bring in the new timetable with its faster times between stops.

 

[Envoy]

I see that further questioning regarding the need to spend £33 million on a new transport interchange at Caerphilly has resurfaced with Prof. Mark Barry having his say on the project.

Plaid Cymru MS welcomes support from transport expert over town's £33m 'glass monstrosity'

Stephen Price Plaid Cymru Senedd Member Lindsay Whittle has welcomed comments from a highly regarded transport expert questioning the need for a new £33m transport interchange in Caerphilly. In his blog, Professor Mark Barry said that while Caerphilly station was tired and lacking some basic...

nation.cymru

"The new station will boast a “striking” roof canopy with “green” sections for plant life, and its designers have “taken inspiration from the tiered concentric defences” of Caerphilly Castle".

The above is just twaddle from the architects. Who is going to climb onto the roof to look at the green plants - such as sedum? "The designers have taken inspiration from the tiered concentric defences of Caerphilly Castle" = could have fooled me!

Perhaps those thinking of the modernist station should go and take a look at Great Malvern station - which recently had a refurb? Barry Island is another station in the SE Wales Metro area where a fine Victorian building has been allowed to fall into decay - despite this being a very busy station due to being a beach resort that just happens to be near a large population.

For Malvern station - see:> https://railuk.com/rail-news/case-study-great-malvern-station/

“ Great Malvern station which looks spectacular. The work of the expert restoration team may largely go unnoticed as people pass by on their way to a new adventure, but when you know a bit about the past stories of how the railway came about, you might just spot a new piece of history as you travel by train and go back to the future.”

 

[Last Hurrah]

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

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)

Rather than have 150’s running all the way from Rhymney to Bridgend, could 756’s cover Rhymney to Barry Town station with a short term use of 150’s covering the last stretch, Barry Town - Llantwit Major - Bridgend

Similar to 197’s reaching Cardiff, their use further west was introduced in stages . . .

 

[The exile]

The above is just twaddle from the architects. Who is going to climb onto the roof to look at the green plants - such as sedum?

AIUI, green roofs have good insulating properties (both ways) - so it’s not really anything to do with the visual effect.

 

[Caaardiff]

Rather than have 150’s running all the way from Rhymney to Bridgend, could 756’s cover Rhymney to Barry Town station with a short term use of 150’s covering the last stretch, Barry Town - Llantwit Major - Bridgend

Similar to 197’s reaching Cardiff, their use further west was introduced in stages . . .

I'd imagine those travelling from Cardiff to West of Barry would rather not have to change trains. Anyone travelling to stations between Cardiff and Barry could just wait for the next Barry Island train. If 756's move to those services, something else would need to be covered by a 150 surely?

 

[Last Hurrah]

I'd imagine those travelling from Cardiff to West of Barry would rather not have to change trains. Anyone travelling to stations between Cardiff and Barry could just wait for the next Barry Island train. If 756's move to those services, something else would need to be covered by a 150 surely?

I imagine those travelling from Rhymney to Barry Town & stations in between, much prefer to travel on a newer 4 coach 756 rather than an older 150 Sprinter with 2 coaches - it’s also not making use of the overhead wires

Having to change train at Barry Town, from a 756 to a waiting 150 for onward journey to Llantwit Major & Bridgend is hardly arduous, given it will be on two facing sides of an island platform and it will only be a relative short term measure

 

[Caaardiff]

I imagine those travelling from Rhymney to Barry Town & stations in between, much prefer to travel on a newer 4 coach 756 rather than an older 150 Sprinter with 2 coaches - it’s also not making use of the overhead wires

Having to change train at Barry Town, from a 756 to a waiting 150 for onward journey to Llantwit Major & Bridgend is hardly arduous, given it will be on two facing sides of an island platform and it will only be a relative short term measure

I doubt there will be many making the full journey from the Rhymney valley to Barry, unless its to Barry Island in the summer, which is already catered for with Flirts.

 

[SWML9102]

I imagine those travelling from Rhymney to Barry Town & stations in between, much prefer to travel on a newer 4 coach 756 rather than an older 150 Sprinter with 2 coaches - it’s also not making use of the overhead wires

Having to change train at Barry Town, from a 756 to a waiting 150 for onward journey to Llantwit Major & Bridgend is hardly arduous, given it will be on two facing sides of an island platform and it will only be a relative short term measure

The small minority of passengers who may wish to experience the delights of a 756 and are travelling west of Barry can already do so by catching a train 10 minutes earlier and changing at Barry. Likewise towards Cardiff they could alight at Barry and join the next Flirt coming from Barry Island a few minutes later. Not many choose to do that presently. The vast majority would prefer to stay on board the same train the entire way, even if it is a shabby 150.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

I thought I'd revisit the project plan (this is my post below summarising it from 27th January 2026) and look at how things are progressing.




Aberdare toilets: yes, completed
Merthyr Vale toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)
Treorchy toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)
Merthyr Tydfil toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)
Abercynon toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)
Tonypandy toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)

Cardiff Bay wires: completed - live and in use by 398s. Wires were live at the end of May, so two months later than planned.
Ty-Glas platform extension: completed 4th April 2026 (pretty much to plan)
Cwmbach toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)
Llwynypia toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)

398s on Cardiff Bay - Pontypridd: yes, in service as of July 2026, so around 3 months behind schedule
398s on TAM lines: not started
756s on Barry Island trains: yes, now in service (though still plenty of 231s on that route)
Additional feeder at Ninian Park: not clear but likely taking place during evening shutdowns this week (10th-15th August)
Bute Town station: work still in progress, no announcement made

It's worth noting that the key event of this year is the timetable change in December. If TfW can get enough 398s in service reliably to cover the Pontypridd-Cardiff Bay diagrams, that will allow them to remove the 150s from those routes and they can bring in the new timetable with its faster times between stops.

For reasons I wouldn't know, the tourist hotspot of Penrhiwceiber is having a toilet installed. The locals view, talking between themselves, was that it would spend most of its time out of order.

I wasn't taking detailed notes, but if I recall correctly:
Treorchy toilet was under construction in April.
Abercynon was under construction in July.
Cwmbach I alighted at and didn't notice one.

 

[MikePJ]

For reasons I wouldn't know, the tourist hotspot of Penrhiwceiber is having a toilet installed. The locals view, talking between themselves, was that it would spend most of its time out of order.

I wasn't taking detailed notes, but if I recall correctly:
Treorchy toilet was under construction in April.
Abercynon was under construction in July.
Cwmbach I alighted at and didn't notice one.

The plan for toilets is on this webpage - https://tfw.wales/projects/metro/south-wales-metro/toilets

Part of the plan is that there should be a toilet available within 20 minutes' journey time. I suspect they've planned for some resilience to failures too.

 

[Zoomer]

It would be interesting to know their justification for installing toilets in Tonypandy and Llwynypia, two stations adjacent to each other, a mere 4 minutes apart.

 

[chargesmith]

It would be interesting to know their justification for installing toilets in Tonypandy and Llwynypia, two stations adjacent to each other, a mere 4 minutes apart.

May have simply been the easiest stations to install them at for e.g. proximity of utilities. I can't imagine many small stations have a mains water supply or sewerage connection.

 

[The exile]

May have simply been the easiest stations to install them at for e.g. proximity of utilities. I can't imagine many small stations have a mains water supply or sewerage connection.

Almost certainly most that were historically stations rather than halts would have had by the time their buildings went.

 

[Martyr]

I thought I'd revisit the project plan (this is my post below summarising it from 27th January 2026) and look at how things are progressing.

Merthyr Tydfil toilets: not sure (National Rail and TfW's website says no)

The toilet block at Merthyr Tydfil appears to be complete (haven't seen inside it of course) but is still fenced off.

 

[AdamWW]

The toilet block at Merthyr Tydfil appears to be complete (haven't seen inside it of course) but is still fenced off.

As of a few weeks ago anyway the new facility in Radyr wasn't in use yet. There were signs pointing to a temporary toilet but having followed the signs to it, it seemed to be for RADAR key holders only

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Aug 2026 ==

Fascinating.

Just saw the departure screen for a 3 car 756 at Queen Street and it was correctly saying "Train is formed of 3 coaches" and showing 3 coaches in the diagram with "3 Cerbyd/coaches" next to it, as opposed to previously when the screen would simultaneously claim it as a 3 and a 4 coach train.

But the audio announcement still says "This train is 4 coaches".

 

[positron]

As of a few weeks ago anyway the new facility in Radyr wasn't in use yet. There were signs pointing to a temporary toilet but having followed the signs to it, it seemed to be for RADAR key holders only

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Aug 2026 ==

Fascinating.

Just saw the departure screen for a 3 car 756 at Queen Street and it was correctly saying "Train is formed of 3 coaches" and showing 3 coaches in the diagram with "3 Cerbyd/coaches" next to it, as opposed to previously when the screen would simultaneously claim it as a 3 and a 4 coach train.

But the audio announcement still says "This train is 4 coaches".

They'll get there eventually . At Abergavenny once I noticed the loco sets showed as 7 carriages (because of the loco + DVT). I feel like they need to settle on what counts.

 

[MikePJ]

A couple more Jan 26 project plan updates:

- the plan has a 24 hour shutdown of the TAM lines on 27th September and that appears to be going ahead, as it's now advertised on TfW's service changes page. The plan suggests that this is signalling-related.
- there's also a week-long closure of the Bay line from 24th October in the plan, and this is being advertised on the Future Disruptions page. This one appears to be trackwork, including "Up Bay Line installation"

 

[WelshBluebird]

Looks like toilets at Treorchy may be finished? The local MP has posted a bit of a fluff peice with someone from TfW showing the toilets and it didnt look like there were any barriers or anything to stop them being used now. Sadly I've only just got back to Bristol after being at my families near Treorchy for a few days so not able to go and confirm!

Also a mention of the 398s being on the line "soon" which granted is vague but given they have barely acknowledged the public introduction of them is maybe something!