Thanks; excellent view of the new northbound platform which "only" seems to be awaiting furniture and the redoubled track now, but last week's blockade was also if not mainly to allow for adding structures to the southbound platform which others have suggested might come into use first. Can anyone confirm what if anything was achieved there please?
I'll take a closer look at the southbound side tomorrow but my impression to date is that most of the work was focussed on assembling the precast blocks for the northbound platform, plus the addition of nonconductive lineside fencing in a couple of places. The northbound side also is waiting for the construction of a staircase up from street level - at the moment there's a temporary staircase made of modular scaffolding for the construction team, and the frame of the lift tower is there but obviously no lift!
Some stations are only intended for local residents (eg Dinas Powis, Thornhill etc) some as destinations in their own right (Cardiff Bay)
Butetown southbound platform today - it’s still lacking platform furniture, ticket machines, etc, but the site compound hoarding is gradually being replaced with portable fencing as they do the access paths and landscaping of the area between the station and Lloyd George Avenue. The very solid fencing that blocks the tramway pedestrian crossing on the northbound side has now been finished, so that makes it pretty clear that the southbound platform will open first, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered fencing it off. The conversion to tramway operation is not due until 2027 and I expect TfW will want to open the station once the 398s are operating - perhaps in the spring of 2026?
Isn't it true of most stations that they mainly only serve local residents? I don't imagine many people who get off at Danescourt or Fairwater do so for work or leisure.
It wasn't unsafe at all, it was a buzzing friendly community when I lived there in the '70s , though I did get my bike nicked that was chained to some railings outside a pub once.
I guess it depends what period you are talking about. I mean it had the reputation that most dockland districts did and no doubt racism played a part in that.
About 20 years ago my then partner did a shift for a homelessness charity in the area. As I was waiting in the car to pick her up I was approached by a number of rough looking not-so-young women asking if I'd 'like anything'.
Probably! As to the earlier question of why Lloyd George Avenue is so wide. It was due to a fantasy of the then Cardiff Bay Development Corporation of it being the "Las Ramblas of Cardiff". What we got instead was a windswept dual-carriageway which seems set to become a linear park at some stage in the future.
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Yes it's sadly very much a wasted opportunity, a tramway along this route would have been perfect. The designs for a park along with waterways look good though, if that ever happens.
I have vague memories of being involved in an investigation in around 1997 of whether the Bay branch could be brought down to street level to address the severance issue. We concluded that if crossing Herbert Street on the level, it wasn't possible to get up and over the main line. So the bridge there would have to stay, in which case much of the embankment would also remain to form the ramp down towards the Bay.
Assuming that the tramway is built according to the planning drawings, there’ll be several new crossing points which have steps and ramps on the Bute St side.
I would think that this would be the case if using typical train gradients, but maybe it would be more feasible using tram trsin (398) specifications ??
It would probably have been, look at Sheffield and Manchester. However at one point there was talk of Pacers, with side plates over their wheels, being used.
Pacers....ych a fi....
I would have loved to have seen that, maybe even got a few more years out of the wonderful things
It is mainline crew that operate the VOG services. Although, it is still up in the air at the moment on who’s going to be doing what in terms of valley line crews doing the VOG services alongside mainline crews or just solely valley crews or if mainline crew will get trained up on the 756s.
This makes me imagine the Wisbech and Upwell tramway surviving into the 80s. Presumably (since it's in Greater Anglia) surviving until 2017, to be replaced by a Class 755 with street running side plates- which is admittedly exactly what Stadler have built for lots of small Swiss railways!
It has
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Yes - contacts for construction were tendered for in the summer, and the tender notices suggest a spring 2026 start date and completion in autumn of 2027. As far as I can tell, the winning tender has not yet been announced, so I would not be surprised if the schedule slips.
July 2027 according to a recent article in RAIL magazine. You pays your money.....
