Keolis/Amey to take over Wales and Borders

[The Prisoner]

Chester station ticket machines have been Transport for Wales-ed

Tiny welsh writing all over them.

 

[anamyd]

The other irony is that the class 175 rebranding into Transport for Wales colours was done at Chester depot!

The 175s have always been based at Chester, it's an Alstom (original manufacturer's) depot so they did the repaint. Arriva Buses Wales also runs bus services in Chester.

 

[anamyd]

Chester station ticket machines have been Transport for Wales-ed

Tiny welsh writing all over them.

Aberystwyth one just has That means that the screen saver saying that it's "the NEW TicketXpress Machine!" is finally no more...

 

[AlexNL]

For those interested in the overall branding of Transport for Wales: I came across an article from Smörgåsbord, the agency which designed the brand identity for Visit Wales, which was done from 2015 onwards.

http://www.smorgasbordstudio.com/projects/brand-wales/

It looks like the TfW branding builds on this, as can be seen and heard in the work produced by Transport for Wales so far (such as the typical 5 note melody in their videos).

I've also stumbled upon a placeholder website: www.tfwrail.wales.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The 175s have always been based at Chester, it's an Alstom (original manufacturer's) depot so they did the repaint. Arriva Buses Wales also runs bus services in Chester.

I'm well aware of that.
Arriva Buses Wales was at one time run out of Merseyside (Aintree I think) but its HQ is now at Llandudno ("Chester" depot at Broughton).
The buses will of course stay in Arriva (DB) colours, as will Arriva Traincare at Crewe, who also service stock for TfW.
The ownership/operation of Chester depot has not been clarified as far as I know, as 175s are retired.
It's quite possible Alstom will continue to maintain the TfW fleet, which will eventually be dominated by CAF stock.
Or there may be some other arrangement.

 

[krus_aragon]

Arriva Buses Wales was at one time run out of Merseyside (Aintree I think) but its HQ is now at Llandudno ("Chester" depot at Broughton).

The depot at Llandudno Jn has been demolished, and is to be replaced with a supermarket. Their buses all carry Llandygai as their operator's address (next to the doors) to the best of my knowledge.

 

[Rhydgaled]

Loudon Square station will be halfway down Bute Street, The Flourish will be opposite the Wales Millennium Centre in the bay. I'm assuming that the present Cardiff Bay station will close.

Correct. There'll be two stations south of Queen Street on that line.

It has been noted though that no one knows where/what "The Flourish" is and it's been suggested that it could be called Cardiff Bay

I have wondered from the moment it was announced where the heck, what the heck, or why the heck "The Flourish" was so I'm glad in a way to see that it's a marketing invention!

On this point (and a few of the other proposed new stations) I see that one Rhys Williams has started a petition calling for the new stations to be given more-sensible names. You might need to live in Wales to sign it though.

 

[Dai Corner]

There is a bus stop named 'The Flourish', not far from Cardiff Bay station.
The Flourish
Cardiff CF10 5AF
https://goo.gl/maps/a6v3CNis6hT2

 

[krus_aragon]

There is a bus stop named 'The Flourish', not far from Cardiff Bay station.
The Flourish
Cardiff CF10 5AF
https://goo.gl/maps/a6v3CNis6hT2

Named for the road junction it's next to. The CBDC decided that Lloyd George Avenue, the new road down to the bay, should end in "a flourish" .

 

[pdeaves]

Named for the road junction it's next to. The CBDC decided that Lloyd George Avenue, the new road down to the bay, should end in "a flourish" .

Seriously? That's great!

 

[TUC]

I like TfW Chief Exec James Price's quote ' I think people need to be aware that we’ve bought a Ford Escort with 300,000 miles on the clock and the clutch is on the way out,” https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/transport/2018/10/13/big-departure-for-new-rail-franchise/

 

[Envoy]

If they send trains down to ‘The Flourish’ - people won’t know where the hell it is. It is the same with the buses when they have ‘Porth Teigwr’ on the front = the absolutely daft name they gave to the area where the BBC drama production studios are located. Presumably this is Tiger Bay in Welsh? (Tiger Bay just reminds older people of a 1950’s movie made in the area). Let us hope that the name for the new terminal will be Cardiff Bay so that the majority of people will be quite clear about where the train is going.

 

[krus_aragon]

Yes, Porth Teigr is the Welsh for Tiger Bay, though they may as well be separate names, as the Welsh only gained traction as the name for the redeveloped area around the BBC studios, and the old docklands area was only really known by the English.

 

[Cardiff123]

Pontypridd has been completely re-branded in TfW colours and signage today ready for the launch event there tomorrow.

This is on BBC Radio Wales tomorrow at 8am:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000qzx

All change for trains? Guests include Christian Wolmar, Prof Mark Barry, Chief Executive of Transport for Wales James Price, & Transport Focus spokesperson Linda McCord

 

[PaulHarding150]

Twitter poll from RailFuture on when people expect to notice a difference:

https://twitter.com/RailfutureWales/status/1051148595024543745

Interesting results so far.

 

[craigybagel]

Twitter poll from RailFuture on when people expect to notice a difference:

https://twitter.com/RailfutureWales/status/1051148595024543745

Interesting results so far.

You'd have to be pretty blind to not notice a difference by the end of 2019. Sure, the shiny new trains may be another few years off but the demise of the Pacers and the arrival of 170s,230s and MKIVs will still be a big change on the rolling stock front .The 175s and 158s will have had internal improvements, and there are the various changes to ticketing and things like that. It might be a long way from the finished article - but the end of 2019 will still be very different if things go to plan

 

[allanf]

Named for the road junction it's next to. The CBDC decided that Lloyd George Avenue, the new road down to the bay, should end in "a flourish" .

Incorrect, CBDC decided that Bute Avenue, the new road down to the bay, should end in "a flourish" . Russell Goodway renamed Bute Avenue to Lloyd George Avenue after the demise of CDBC - and, unbelievably, renamed the so appropriately named Oval Basin to Roald Dahl Plas - welcome to Dai-sneyland.

 

[allanf]

Yes, Porth Teigr is the Welsh for Tiger Bay, though they may as well be separate names, as the Welsh only gained traction as the name for the redeveloped area around the BBC studios, and the old docklands area was only really known by the English.

Rubbish.

 

[PaulHarding150]

You'd have to be pretty blind to not notice a difference by the end of 2019. Sure, the shiny new trains may be another few years off but the demise of the Pacers and the arrival of 170s,230s and MKIVs will still be a big change on the rolling stock front .The 175s and 158s will have had internal improvements, and there are the various changes to ticketing and things like that. It might be a long way from the finished article - but the end of 2019 will still be very different if things go to plan

If you live in Mid Wales you might not notice a difference for a while.

If you live in the valleys, yes the pacers are going by Dec 2019 (must commuters probably assume class 150s and 153s are pacers which are staying meaning they’ll be disappointed). There could well be a dip in Valley Lines capacity come January 2020.

If you live in Pembroke you might not notice any change at all. Bar the odd class 800 turning up (but that’s nothing to do with this franchise)

 

[mmh]

What's wrong with naming new things after people?

Dai-sneyland

Ah. Sigh.

 

[craigybagel]

If you live in Mid Wales you might not notice a difference for a while.

If you live in the valleys, yes the pacers are going by Dec 2019 (must commuters probably assume class 150s and 153s are pacers which are staying meaning they’ll be disappointed). There could well be a dip in Valley Lines capacity come January 2020.

If you live in Pembroke you might not notice any change at all. Bar the odd class 800 turning up (but that’s nothing to do with this franchise)

Between the 170s (4 X 2 + 8 X 3) 230s (we'll call it 5 x 2 since they're shorter cars then on other units) and 153s (5 x 1) that's more then enough capacity to displace all the 170s and still allow for the small amount of extra services coming in by then (such as Chester - Liverpool).

Pembroke and mid Wales might not see much different stock from now but the existing stock will be improved.

 

[krus_aragon]

Incorrect, CBDC decided that Bute Avenue, the new road down to the bay, should end in "a flourish" . Russell Goodway renamed Bute Avenue to Lloyd George Avenue after the demise of CDBC - and, unbelievably, renamed the so appropriately named Oval Basin to Roald Dahl Plas - welcome to Dai-sneyland.

Was The Flourish not named by the CBDC, then?

 

[richardjeeves]

It's a good start at a damp Telford Central. Waiting for the 8:31 1G93 to Birmingham International. It's just left Shrewsbury 36L. Wait until they see how many people want to squeeze onto a single 158 here in Telford.

 

[KashmireHawker]

Such delays are pretty expected throughout the day, thanks to Storm Callum and the damage it’s done.

They could have West Midlands Trains first day on December 10th last year; when snow brought the nation to a standstill!

 

[Parallel]

There's actually a new announcement being played out at stations as well that says something like "We are Transport for Wales and we're taking over your railway. Train times will remain the same. We have some exciting plans, which means from 2019 we will start introducing better trains, and by 2023 you will experience the world class train service you deserve, as part of our 15 year 1.8 billion pound investment to transform your railway. So welcome onboard, as we begin our exciting journey together. Search online for tfwrail.wales."

Did Ken Skates write that?

 

[Dai Corner]

There's actually a new announcement being played out at stations as well that says something like "We are Transport for Wales and we're taking over your railway. Train times will remain the same. We have some exciting plans, which means from 2019 we will start introducing better trains, and by 2023 you will experience the world class train service you deserve, as part of our 15 year 1.8 billion pound investment to transform your railway. So welcome onboard, as we begin our exciting journey together. Search online for tfwrail.wales."

Did Ken Skates write that?

Buzzword Bingo!

Last week it was a £5bn investment wasn't it? Budget cut already?

 

[PHILIPE]

It's a good start at a damp Telford Central. Waiting for the 8:31 1G93 to Birmingham International. It's just left Shrewsbury 36L. Wait until they see how many people want to squeeze onto a single 158 here in Telford.

Journey Check referred to it being comprised of 4 Cars

 

[northwichcat]

Chester station ticket machines have been Transport for Wales-ed

Tiny welsh writing all over them.

I thought we were supposed to be moving towards unbranded TVMs. Although, I suppose that was because they are supposed to be assets of the franchise, not assets of the operator running the franchise.

 

[Dai Corner]

Spot the error and subtle change
http://tfwalesstg.prod.acquia-sites.com/sites/tfwrail.wales/files/2018-10/Valley Explorer LG.pdf

Edit: attached screenshot for the record.

 

[Envoy]

From the BBC:>https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45786582