Cardiff Airport - wrong information on train websites.

[Envoy]

I just checked GWR site for travel to airports. For Cardiff Airport it says that you can go via Rhoose station or take the T9 bus from central Cardiff. The T9 bus ceased to operate years ago. It also fails to say that passengers from west Wales can change at Bridgend for Rhoose station and the 2 mile shuttle bus to the terminal.

Neither can you tap in Cardiff Airport in the GWR search box - does not exist - but you can tap in Bristol Airport and get 2 options via Temple Meads or Weston including the bus link.

The Rail Forums site got things correct except for the fact that it states “This journey includes at least one rail replacement bus”. It’s not a rail replacement bus but a shuttle bus that links Rhoose station with the airport terminal.

Then I checked the TFW site as you would think they would have things correct being as the Welsh Government owns both the airport and the train company? Well, yes & no. Go to the TFW site and tap in Cardiff Airport and it fails to come up in full. Instead it comes up with Cardiff Air Ria. Now, who on earth (apart from locals) is going to know that RIA is the code for Rhoose station and that Rhoose is a small settlement near to Cardiff Airport? Surely, anyone tapping in Cardiff Airport on a train website should get it written in full - ideally showing via Rhoose in the name bar?

By the way, the code on the train websites for Cardiff Airport terminal is XCF (including the bus link from Rhoose station) but not all train websites load XCF - only RIA for Rhoose.

Below are 4 screenshots relating to the above. I dare say that other train booking sites have similar mistakes.

 

[MrJeeves]

The Rail Forums site got things correct except for the fact that it states “This journey includes at least one rail replacement bus”. It’s not a rail replacement bus but a shuttle bus that links Rhoose station with the airport terminal.

Retailers operate at the behest of the data provided to them by RDG and rail operators.

The timetable shows the bus between Rhoose and the Airport as a replacement bus, so ticket retailers will too unfortunately unless TfW fix this in the data.

Realtime Trains | 0B00 1016 Rhoose to Cardiff International Apt | 07/01/2025

Real-time train running information for 0B00 1016 departure from Rhoose to Cardiff International Apt on 07/01/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[Envoy]

Retailers operated at the behest of the data provided to them by RDG and rail operators.

The timetable shows the bus between Rhoose and the Airport as a replacement bus, so ticket retailers will too unfortunately unless TfW fix this in the data.

Realtime Trains | 0B00 1016 Rhoose to Cardiff International Apt | 07/01/2025

Real-time train running information for 0B00 1016 departure from Rhoose to Cardiff International Apt on 07/01/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

View attachment 172350

Well, let's hope that people read this and get it clarified and fixed on the various train retailing websites.

 

[alistairlees]

Below are 4 screenshots relating to the above. I dare say that other train booking sites have similar mistakes.

Retailers are obliged to display that they data they are provided with. In this case the data is wrong; it is the owning TOC that is making the mistakes (possibly other entities too). The thread title should be changed to "wrong information supplied to retailers". Once the data is corrected, then it will flow through and customers will see correct / meaningful info.

I do want to get the right outcome for customers like you do. But it's within the gift of the data owners to fix this, which they could easily do.

 

[FGW_DID]

@Envoy Once you noticed the errors, I presume you raised the fact with the relevant entities so they can correct it (easily it would appear) or did you just rush straight to the forum to moan about TOCs?

 

[Envoy]

@Envoy Once you noticed the errors, I presume you raised the fact with the relevant entities so they can correct it (easily it would appear) or did you just rush straight to the forum to moan about TOCs?

I found the error and that things were not clear on the websites that I checked. I figured that by putting on here, that it would be picked up by the correct people and the information corrected & clarified. I simply do not have the time to go through every train retailing site and check that you can buy a ticket to Cardiff Airport and whether that includes the bus link from Rhoose station.

I know nothing about how the train retailers get their information. What needs to happen is that when people type in Cardiff Airport that it comes up as a destination and that Rhoose is the train station from which the shuttle bus operates on the 2 mile journey to the airport building.

 

[LCC106]

The correct people most possibly don’t use this forum. Far better to go to them directly or at least the main source than waste your valuable time posting here.Not entirely sure who that would be.

 

[Envoy]

The correct people most possibly don’t use this forum. Far better to go to them directly or at least the main source than waste your valuable time posting here.Not entirely sure who that would be.

Most big organisations have a department where anything published of relevance is noted. I would be very surprised if GWR & TFW were not monitoring Rail Forums. It is indeed obvious from some people who respond that they are part of a rail organisation and are in a position of responsibility. I would also expect the Department for Transport to have people monitoring Rail Forums.

 

[The Planner]

Most big organisations have a department where anything published of relevance is noted. I would be very surprised if GWR & TFW were not monitoring Rail Forums. It is indeed obvious from some people who respond that they are part of a rail organisation and are in a position of responsibility. I would also expect the Department for Transport to have people monitoring Rail Forums.

Doesnt mean they are monitoring it in an official context though.

 

[Indigo Soup]

Most big organisations have a department where anything published of relevance is noted. I would be very surprised if GWR & TFW were not monitoring Rail Forums. It is indeed obvious from some people who respond that they are part of a rail organisation and are in a position of responsibility. I would also expect the Department for Transport to have people monitoring Rail Forums.

'Monitoring' may be a strong word here. In most cases it's likely to be one member of the team does a keyword search at some agreed-upon interval. Which may be quite long if the channel in question isn't considered an important one by the hierarchy. What is considered 'important' will depend on management priorities.

Informal participation, even by someone in a position of responsibility, isn't going to carry the same weight unless a discussion directly impinges on that person's role. And in some cases, piping up with 'Railforums says XYZ is wrong' may not be sensible for those who wish to continue in their manager's good graces.

 

[twpsaesneg]

you would think they would have things correct being as the Welsh Government owns both the airport and the train company

Ho ho ho!

 

[Envoy]

Informal participation, even by someone in a position of responsibility, isn't going to carry the same weight unless a discussion directly impinges on that person's role. And in some cases, piping up with 'Railforums says XYZ is wrong' may not be sensible for those who wish to continue in their manager's good graces.

Most organisations would welcome feedback on mistakes and suggestions on how things can be improved. Sometimes newly arrived junior staff have the vision to see how things can be improved. Those in managerial positions should welcome such suggestions.

 

[Dai Corner]

The Cardiff Airport website doesn't give much prominence to rail but once you find the page it does explain the through fares on the 905 bus and give the 'Cardiff Air Ria' destination to book to/from.

Cardiff Airport - By Rail – CWL

The official Cardiff Airport website for live flight information, news, airport parking, offers, booking flights & holidays.

cardiff-airport.com

Trains run from Rhoose Cardiff International Airport railway station every hour from Monday to Saturday and every two hours on Sundays.​

Getting to Cardiff Airport by public transport has been made easier thanks to a new integrated rail and bus ticket partnership between Transport for Wales (TfW) and Adventure Travel, who operate the 905 service.
Users looking to travel to the airport can now catch a rail service to Rhoose (Cardiff International Airport) and connect with the 905 bus service from the station to Cardiff International Airport all on one ticket.
The new fares have been integrated with the rail and bus timetables, simply add ‘Cardiff Air Ria’ into either your origin or destination journey to search for your ticket.
A shuttle bus service from the train station to the Airport is available for passengers, the journey takes approximately 10 minutes and there is a small charge of £2.10 per person.
Plan your route across Wales on the Traveline Cymru website, download the App or call 0800 464 00 00.

 

[CapitalStar378]

It would probably be more useful to provide a thorough ticket price including the shuttle bus. National Rail enquiries says "We have been unable to find a valid fare. Please re-plan your journey" when using RIA as a destination. It will also be a much better option once TfW pull their finger out and increase the VoG services to 2tph.

 

[MrJeeves]

It would probably be more useful to provide a thorough ticket price including the shuttle bus.

This already exists, and is even explicitly mentioned in the post above yours.

Of course, it requires retailers to pull their finger out and surface it in results.

TrainSplit and OnTrack (Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern) both offer tickets. NRE says no fares, as you said, and RailSmartr manages to break their journey planner.

 

[CapitalStar378]

This already exists, and is even explicitly mentioned in the post above yours.

Of course, it requires retailers to pull their finger out and surface it in results.

TrainSplit and OnTrack (Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern) both offer tickets. NRE says no fares, as you said, and RailSmartr manages to break their journey planner.

View attachment 172438
View attachment 172439
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View attachment 172441

Sorry, didn't read all of the thread. However, I think the NR app/site should be a priority.

 

[LCC106]

Most big organisations have a department where anything published of relevance is noted. I would be very surprised if GWR & TFW were not monitoring Rail Forums. It is indeed obvious from some people who respond that they are part of a rail organisation and are in a position of responsibility. I would also expect the Department for Transport to have people monitoring Rail Forums.

I’d be surprised if they WERE monitoring it, unless it were the disputes and prosecutions section!

 

[WAB]

The Rail Forums site got things correct except for the fact that it states “This journey includes at least one rail replacement bus”. It’s not a rail replacement bus but a shuttle bus that links Rhoose station with the airport terminal.

I note this has now been fixed. Interesting...

 

[MrJeeves]

I note this has now been fixed. Interesting...

TOC staff read the forum!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Jan 2025 ==

Seems to have been fixed from 9 Jan.

 

[Envoy]

That’s great news that this matter has been fixed.

 

[Dai Corner]

That’s great news that this matter has been fixed.

'Cardiff Airport via Rhoose' is also a much better destination to show than 'Cardiff Air Ria'. The TfW website booking engine is still using the latter at the time of writing.

 

[Envoy]

'Cardiff Airport via Rhoose' is also a much better destination to show than 'Cardiff Air Ria'. The TfW website booking engine is still using the latter at the time of writing.

Yikes! If anyone was going to sort this out - you would think it would be TFW being as they and the airport are owned by the Welsh Government.

 

[SargeNpton]

'Cardiff Airport via Rhoose' is also a much better destination to show than 'Cardiff Air Ria'. The TfW website booking engine is still using the latter at the time of writing.

There are several fields in the fares data used to describe destinations. The original field only contains 16 characters (which is retained for legacy purposes), with those used by more modern systems being able to accommodate 26-30 characters. the "Cardiff Air RIA" is the version in the 16-character field.

The TfW website journey planner needs to read one of the other description fields.