That all sounds very promising.
I'd take that statement by Ken Skates with a bucket of salt. None of the planned test runs of the 756s to Penarth, Coryton & Caerphilly have run yet.
Cardiff West isn't within the CVL, so I think that would be part of the £300 million? As for the £48m, Ely Mill may be a candidate for funding as (according to Cardiff Council's most recent Corporate Plan) its construction depends on City Line frequency enhancement, which Cardiff West's upgrade will now bring closer to fruition.
Ah good point, so I suspect it would be coryton doubling and then yeah probably something like ely mill, or perhaps crwys road / gabalfa if they're delayed due to funds.
Apologies for my ignorance, but will Cardiff West have any impact on line capacity west of Cardiff? Still only an hourly service to Maesteg, whilst other lines in the Core Valleys will shortly have four trains an hour, and twice hourly to Ebbw Vale and Rhymney. I know we'll still need a passing loop, so not holding my breath.
Thanks for the clarification.
Well once the reliefs are upgraded to potentially as high as 90 depending on the specifics, I imagine quite a few will.
Looking at images of the new layout (here), the junction between Bute Street north and Callaghan Square will be one-way, southbound only, towards Herbert street only — so in theory cars coming from that direction won't cross over the tramway.
Many thanks for the link. I think a lot of people are going to have a shock when they find the underpass under the railway at Bute Street is blocked - apart from southbound left turn only. Car drivers will be sent on long detours which will add traffic in other parts of the city centre - unless they give up on their cars!
Not sure whether it's artificial or not, but grass is common on other modern tramways e.g. Manchester Metrolink in the Media City area of Salford.
And many European cities, it does need to be looked after though. I think it looks great and the more green space, the better.
It doesn't have to be grass - there's a system that uses sedum plants instead, and they don't need to be mowed. https://www.sempergreen.com/en/solutions/green-ground-covering/green-tracks
Wow, a few weeks for platform 1 after 2 1/2 years for platform 2!
Err, the key difference being that Platform 1 was already there?
Why would they have not built the platform and then wired the OLE seems a bit backwards.
Yeah platform 2 had demolition, ground works, utility works iirc, ballast and track works AND entrance works (remember platform 2 is a lot wider than it was before). Platform 1 at this point is just place some blocks and some slabs on top. Because they already did the demolition works during the previous closure.
Yes I appreciate all of that, but my point was that the construction has to be the slowest build in history!
Have you actually seen the works? It wasn't plonk a platform down, there's a whole load of works happened on the surrounding land to prepare it for future aspirations.
Yes I've seen it, that sort of project does not take 2 1/2 years to complete. There has been a very long go slow on it, I assume it's due to the late running of the 398s and the resulting lack of necessity for the infrastructure.