South Wales 'Metro' updates

[MikePJ]

This week's RAIL magazine (issue 982) has a feature on the South Wales Metro. A few highlights:

• it reminds us that, back in 2019, TfW hoped to acquire ownership of Cardiff Central station, but this ambition has seemingly been dropped
• there's a lot of commentary by Prof Mark Barry, wringing his hands about the lack of provision for the City and Coryton lines (he argues that Coryton should be switched to tramway line-of-sight operation and gain a passing loop, and that Cardiff West junction should be altered to increase frequency on the City Line).
• there's an update on expected entry-into-service dates:
  • 398s to enter service in Spring 2024, on Rondda, Merthyr, City, and Bay lines
  • the 4tph to the heads of each Valley are now slated for 2025
  • Likewise, the full service on the Vale of Glamorgan and Penarth lines to destinations north of Cardiff won't now happen until 2025. (this is worded rather oddly in the article - "Retaining the link from Penarth, Barry and Bridgend to destinations north of Cardiff Central using new tri-mode trains... from December 2023 has also been pushed back to 2025" - which makes me wonder if they're being deliberately vague about exactly which destinations those trains will serve.)

 

[TrainAndBike]

The Gelynis Farm crossing is now blocked. The new bridge is open I am a bit annoyed that they did not put a foot path on the approaches to the bridge. If they had any statistics for the crossing they would see far more pedestrians and cyclists than cars using the crossing.

 

[56xx]

Over running works mean another week of replacement buses for Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil. I can understand the reason for the over run as there doesn't seem to be much activity north of Pontypridd during the closure.

 

[AdamWW]

This is probably in connection with the controversial plans to build a replacement for Velindre Hospital on a greenfield site "Northern Meadows" immediately to the south west of the old trackbed where the line went from Coryton to Tongwynlais and beyond. Access for construction traffic would be via the work site you saw and the old trackbed. The NHS would then wish to sell the existing hospital site for housing.

The trackbed appears to be in a cutting, so I think that doubtful.

The compound is for construction of a new road bridge across the disused railway cutting for access to the new hospital. So it's related to the hospital works, but the main access is not down the old trackbed.

 

[Markdvdman]

Over running works extends Merthyr to Pontypridd to bus replacements next week yes, but Aberdare is only to Mountain Ash. It really angers me as the two weeks later it is Merthyr/Aberdare/Treherbert to Cardiff - so buses for 4 weeks - getting up a heck of a lot earlier to be LUCKY to get to work on time and having to leave earlier just to get back home a decent time! I really love getting up at 4:15am and getting back home after 7pm!

An update. Yesterday waiting for the 5:30 Pontypridd bus to Merthyr it did not turn up. It transpired the bus broke down, and the replacement developed a fault. We left 50 mins late when an old Cardiff bus was drafted in. However, 5 buses went to Treherbert - that was ridiculous NOT to pull one on for Merthyr. I have complained to TW about this and will let you know what they say. There were a LOT of unhappy (bordering angry the more buses went to Treherbert) people waiting behind me I can tell you!!!

 

[snowball]

Press release on the doubling and other works on the Ebbw Vale line:

Passengers reminded to check before travelling as transformation of Ebbw Vale line continues

Network Rail and Transport for Wales are urging passengers to plan ahead during a 19-day temporary closure of the line in May and June.

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

Network Rail and Transport for Wales are urging passengers to plan ahead during a 19-day temporary closure of the line in May and June.

Engineers from Network Rail’s internal construction team will carry out track upgrades at various points between Crosskeys and Aberbeeg, to continue the creation of a seven-mile loop to enable trains to pass in the future.

Amco Giffen, one of the principal contractors, will continue the enhancements at Llanhilleth and Newbridge stations to extend the existing platforms and construct the brand-new platforms.

Elsewhere on the line, contractors at Siemens will continue to upgrade the signalling around the Park Junction area.

This is all part of the multi-million-pound investment to provide an additional service to Newport in the future.

Transport for Wales will be running a bus service between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff Central from Wednesday 24 May to Sunday 11 June and passengers are urged to plan ahead at www.nationalrail.co.uk.

Nick Millington, Route Director at Network Rail Wales and Borders said: “I’m pleased that we’re making good progress with the delivery of this major project by reaching another key milestone.

“Once complete, this project will transform services on this line, bringing a direct service to Newport.

“I’d like to thank passengers and local communities for bearing with us over this 19-day period, to allow us to carry out the large volumes of work as safely as possible.”

Jan Chaudhry-Van der Velde, Chief Operations Officer at Transport for Wales said: “The multi-million-pound investment into the Ebbw Vale line will allow us to run more frequent and more reliable services in the near future, bringing significant benefits to our customers.

“We understand rail replacement services can be frustrating in the short term, but the overall benefits will be worthwhile.

“We thank our customers for their understanding and patience while this vital work is taking place.”

Notes to Editors

This £70m project has been funded by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council via a loan from the Welsh Government. The Department for Transport and Network Rail are providing a further £17m of funding to deliver the signalling upgrade and renewal work. 

Further line closures will take place on the following dates:   

Sunday 18 June  
Sunday 25 June  
Sunday 2 July  
Sunday 9 July  
Sunday 16 July  

On the weekend of 10 and 11 June, major track work is taking place in the Severn Tunnel so there will be disruption for passengers between Cardiff and Bristol Parkway. Passengers are being urged to check before travelling on the mainline, as well as on the Ebbw Vale branch line.

 

[Cathays147]

Bit of a random one but is anyone aware of any plans online or any insight into how the Central-Bay line is going to be achieved? Can’t seem to find any plans/applications online

 

[CapitalStar378]

Bit of a random one but is anyone aware of any plans online or any insight into how the Central-Bay line is going to be achieved? Can’t seem to find any plans/applications online

I can't find anything, coincidentally was looking today. The £100m funding was confirmed in January so there should have been some work done on it by now.

 

[anthony263]

Supposed to be branching off just north of Butetown decending down to street level running over to some new platforms built in the car park by Cardiff Central. How the 398s meant to get from there up to Cardiff West Junction abd the cityline I don't t know

 

[Envoy]

Supposed to be branching off just north of Butetown decending down to street level running over to some new platforms built in the car park by Cardiff Central. How the 398s meant to get from there up to Cardiff West Junction abd the cityline I don't t know

From the car park at Central, they can go up to the lines that exist now joining just west of the end of P8. Unfortunately, Network Rail placed a signal in the way when they did the re-signalling project - so that will have to be moved.

 

[AdamWW]

From the car park at Central, they can go up to the lines that exist now joining just west of the end of P8. Unfortunately, Network Rail placed a signal in the way when they did the re-signalling project - so that will have to be moved.

Do we know that they intend to have a (rail) connection at Central?

 

[Envoy]

Do we know that they intend to have a (rail) connection at Central?

The plan is to have through services coming in from the west via the City Line (Fairwater etc.) that cross Callaghan Square to The Bay Line. They would also like to see these extended from Cardiff Bay station to reach the present freight lines through Splott to then almost reach the Newport Road retail park but on the south side of the main line. In order to that, they would need to link with the present lines to cross the Taff bridge. Of course, what is planned and what happens is another matter but the first priority is to double up the Bay Line - which they are now doing plus the connection across Callaghan Square - where work has not yet started.

 

[CardiffKid]

The plan is to have through services coming in from the west via the City Line (Fairwater etc.)

Very much still an aspiration at the moment.

Going forward if the above plan comes to fruition then yes the ramp at the back of Cardiff Central on the old Riverside alignment would be perfect for this.

Another plan was for the (tram)line to continue through the brewery site, so this is very much tbc (both detail and funding) at the moment.

 

[AdamWW]

The plan is to have through services coming in from the west via the City Line (Fairwater etc.) that cross Callaghan Square to The Bay Line. They would also like to see these extended from Cardiff Bay station to reach the present freight lines through Splott to then almost reach the Newport Road retail park but on the south side of the main line. In order to that, they would need to link with the present lines to cross the Taff bridge. Of course, what is planned and what happens is another matter but the first priority is to double up the Bay Line - which they are now doing plus the connection across Callaghan Square - where work has not yet started.

As I understand it it's not just a question of priorities.

The link from the Bay to Central is funded (at least at some level) and the rest is aspirational at present.

I thought that the funded section was just to terminate in the car park - but I can see the sense to do it in such a way that it could be extended to join up later.

 

[CardiffKid]

I thought that the funded section was just to terminate in the car park -

That is correct.

but I can see the sense to do it in such a way that it could be extended to join up later.

That would be exceptionally logical.

 

[JackUnderwood]

Newbie question. Are the junctions around Queen street the current limiter on tph on the valley lines that side of central?

Wondering if clever use of existing bridges on the bay line could free that up.

 

[daodao]

Newbie question. Are the junctions around Queen street the current limiter on tph on the valley lines that side of central?

Wondering if clever use of existing bridges on the bay line could free that up.

Welcome to the forum.

The main constraint at Cardiff Queen Street is the junction immediately north of the station sited close to the double track bridge over Newport Road, which cannot be widened easily. Originally, the Rhymney Railway (RR) had a separate station at Crockherbtown (later renamed Parade) just north of Newport Road, with a separate goods line running across another bridge over Newport Road to the docks, but in 1928, the GWR opened a new connection south of the station connecting the RR to the former Taff Vale Railway (TVR), allowing Parade station to be closed and all its passenger services to be diverted into an enlarged Queen Street station.

Running the service from Queen Street to Bute Road station as a separate shuttle, as currently occurs, keeps it essentially apart from the other services calling at Queen Street, but this arrangement will be abandoned when the new Metro services is introduced, with tram-trains from the ex-TVR lines to Bute Road (and later beyond) having to cut across trains from the ex-RR and the ex-Cardiff Railway lines that will run to Barry/Penarth. There will be a need to make increased use of the City line via Danescourt for passenger trains, even if the stopping service on this route remains 2 tph, to reduce the pressure on Queen Street from trains originating on the ex-TVR network.

 

[CardiffKid]

Something else to remember when talking about the tph limit in the valleys is the space in Central which is why half of the Pontypridd (and north) trains will terminate in Cardiff Bay rather than Cardiff Central

 

[JackUnderwood]

Deleted

 

[AdamWW]

Thanks for that, it's sort of what I thought. Sounds like it's the junction where the TVR and RR lines meet at Cardiff Queen St North? What are now the Rhymney and Valley lines?

What's limiting widening the double track to three/four track and slewing the RR lines over to four track into the north of Queen St?

Assume because it's hard up against the Dumfries Place NCP Car Park, and Brunel House (which sits on the old RR line route), but the abutment still exists on the eastern side alongside a bit of space there (as on the openrailwaymap below).

I have a fairly wild idea that you could use that route, then run five tracks south of Queen St, dualling/ tripling south of Queen St S junction on the Cardiff Bay Branch using the big bridge over the mainline. Then slew the alignment using the wide existing bridge over Herbert St, and then putting a new raised route over the south side Callaghan Square into the south side of Central, with new platforms linked up to the new bay route. It would increase capacity through those sections, plus potentially space at Central.

Given the disruption caused by the current work, I hate to think how long the Valleys would be without trains if they did any of that!

 

[WelshBluebird]

Running the service from Queen Street to Bute Road station as a separate shuttle, as currently occurs, keeps it essentially apart from the other services calling at Queen Street, but this arrangement will be abandoned when the new Metro services is introduced, with tram-trains from the ex-TVR lines to Bute Road (and later beyond) having to cut across trains from the ex-RR and the ex-Cardiff Railway lines that will run to Barry/Penarth. There will be a need to make increased use of the City line via Danescourt for passenger trains, even if the stopping service on this route remains 2 tph, to reduce the pressure on Queen Street from trains originating on the ex-TVR network.

Just on that note in terms of services cutting across, is that likely to be before the station (and thus all Cardiff Bay headed services will have to use Platform 2) or will it be after the station (giving more of a choice of platforms at Queen Street)? I'm not 100% sure but I don't think there's a crossover to allow the latter option as it is right now!

Apart from how busy the 1st option would make Platform 2, I'd imagine a same platform island change between Cardiff Bay and Cardiff Central services (using Platforms 3 and 4) would be pretty useful given half of the services from the valleys will be Bay terminators following the timetable changes (or will all Cardiff Central bound valleys services will go via the City Line leaving just the Bay services going via Queen Street?)

 

[anthony263]

A lot of track work must be done at Taff's well depot as 398008 moving around the depot under its own power

 

[Bob Price]

Some photos taken at Taffs Well showing the duel direction signalling and an interesting sign. I am guessing the one that says Teforest Estate must be something to do with a signalling section? Anyone know?

 

[AdamWW]

The Treforest Estate sign is presumably referring to the next station, though why it needs a sign I don't know.

It looks as if not all trains stop there (unlike most stations on the routes through Taffs Well).

 

[Western 52]

Maybe the sign is to remind drivers who should stop there. Presumably a similar sign at Treforest?

 

[CardiffKid]

Apart from how busy the 1st option would make Platform 2, I'd imagine a same platform island change between Cardiff Bay and Cardiff Central services (using Platforms 3 and 4) would be pretty useful given half of the services from the valleys will be Bay terminators following the timetable changes (or will all Cardiff Central bound valleys services will go via the City Line leaving just the Bay services going via Queen Street?)

Half the trains from Merthyr, Aberdare and Treherbert will go to the bay (6tph) none from Bargoed/Caerphilly will go to the bay.

The 6tph from Merthyr, Aberdare and Treherbert that will go to Central via the City line will then continue to Queen Street and go back up north

 

[Western 52]

Half the trains from Merthyr, Aberdare and Treherbert will go to the bay (6tph) none from Bargoed/Caerphilly will go to the bay.

The 6tph from Merthyr, Aberdare and Treherbert that will go to Central via the City line will then continue to Queen Street and go back up north

Does that therefore mean no direct trains from Cathays to Central? I think a lot of people do that journey regularly.

 

[Markdvdman]

The biggest downside for me personally is the loss of direct trains from Merthyr to Cadoxton (and/or the Vale Of Glamorgan line). They said they are looking at this but I can see no way for this to happen without electrification. So any gains of quicker journeys to Cardiff and back will truly be negated for myself!

 

[daodao]

The 6tph from Merthyr, Aberdare and Treherbert that will go to Central via the City line will then continue to Queen Street and go back up north

Presumably 3tph from Pontypridd to Cardiff Central via Danescourt and 3tph to Cardiff Central via Llandaff North, otherwise the service will be imbalanced, in addition to the 6tph running via Queen Street to Bute Road (and ultimately the Docks).

 

[Western 52]

Presumably 3tph from Pontypridd to Cardiff Central via Danescourt and 3tph to Cardiff Central via Llandaff North, otherwise the service will be imbalanced, in addition to the 6tph running via Queen Street to Bute Road (and ultimately the Docks).

That's what I thought too, but post 4462 indicates all 6 go to Cardiff via the city line.