"Extra trains" from TfW on weekends throughout November

[Cardiff123]

Given how stretched we know the TfW fleet is at the moment, with poor availability of 197s and Mark 4 sets recently, as well as the number of available 150s shrinking as more are sent for scrap, where exactly are TfW going to find the "extra trains" for weekends this month?

Wales kick off their Autumn Nations Series with extra trains

Transport for Wales (TfW) is providing extra trains throughout November to support fans travelling to the Principality Stadium for four consecutive weekends of international rugby.

news.tfw.wales

Transport for Wales (TfW) is providing extra trains throughout November to support fans travelling to the Principality Stadium for four consecutive weekends of international rugby.

Wales kicks off their Autumn Nations Series under new coach Steve Tandy just as the busy Christmas period begins, marking one of the busiest travel times of the year.

This busy period will see the train network used by not only rugby fans but also passengers visiting Christmas markets, shopping destinations and various festive events across Wales and the borders.

TfW encourages all passengers heading to Cardiff to plan ahead, check the time of the last train home and allow plenty of time for their journey.

TfW will be working closely with the British Transport Police (BTP) and Network Rail to help ensure the safety and comfort of all customers travelling.

Georgina Wills, Customer delivery and events planning manager at Transport for Wales said: “This November is going to be one of the busiest Novembers on our network and we’re pleased to be adding extra services to help fans travelling to the Principality Stadium.

 

[D1537]

They have done this before, notably for Six Nations games in Cardiff and big concerts at the Principality. I am guessing that the number of units required for regular services, especially during the times when people are leaving such events, means that there is spare capacity. It's not like they're trying to run them during weekday peak hours.

 

[Caaardiff]

The games are usually on a weekend when not all mk4's are out. They often bring the Holyhead Mk4 out to play to boost capacity as well as moving 197 capacity around utilising some of the fleet that might have long layovers in the normal timetable.
The extra trains is a little stretch of the truth as it's often retimed trains, especially to suit any late football or rugby fixtures.

The first Rugby match is this Sunday and on Sundays there's usually plenty of slack within the fleet to strengthen or even put on some extra services.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The games are usually on a weekend when not all mk4's are out. They often bring the Holyhead Mk4 out to play to boost capacity as well as moving 197 capacity around utilising some of the fleet that might have long layovers in the normal timetable.
The extra trains is a little stretch of the truth as it's often retimed trains, especially to suit any late football or rugby fixtures.

The first Rugby match is this Sunday and on Sundays there's usually plenty of slack within the fleet to strengthen or even put on some extra services.

Looks like the Holyhead Mk4 set is out on an unusual Sunday round trip to Cardiff tomorrow.
0819 Holyhead-Cardiff arr 1349 1V94 (Argentina match)
1814 Cardiff-Holyhead arr 2330 1W94

Stops everywhere en route east of Llandudno Jn, except Shotton, so an hour slower than the weekday Premier service.

Also runs in different times on Sat 22 Nov (New Zealand match) and Sat 29 Nov (South Africa), but not on Sat 15 Nov (Japan).

 

[Kite159]

Not by robbing the trains from North Wales?