South Wales 'Metro' updates

[Envoy]

Bbc wales would like you to listen to ththeit radio ststion to get traffic reports to increase the number of listern.

Yea, well most people don’t listen to the twaddle on Radio Wales but more people are likely to be informed if the second main station in Wales is closed if it were on the TV news.

I see that Wales on Line are now reporting gridlock in Cardiff city centre. They are still failing to mention that Queen Street Station is closed or the fact that trains from the central valleys are running into Cardiff Central via the City Line. (People who know about Queen Street station being closed might think that it is impossible to reach Cardiff from the central valleys)?

Gridlock in city centre as 'heavy congestion' brings traffic to standstill

Several roads around Cardiff city centre appeared to be blocked

www.walesonline.co.uk

Live traffic maps show that almost all of the main routes around the centre and slow, including Duke Street, Newport Road, Fitzalan Place and Central Link to Cardiff Bay. Photos show long queues of back to back traffic in these areas.

 

[John R]

I also note that major road works are taking place in Fidlas Road between Heath Halt and Llanishen stations. How on earth did that get authorised at the same time as the closure of the Rhymney Line? Goodness knows which way the rail replacement buses are going?

Same here in the West Country. Bristol to Bath closed at the moment, and on the Rail Replacement Bus route there are also roadworks this week on the A4 near Saltford causing long delays to what is already a very slow route. So not just a Welsh thing I'm afraid.

 

[MikePJ]

Lots of activity at Cardiff Bay this morning - so much so that I couldn’t stop my bike safely by the station entrance to take pictures. There’s a road-ripper being unloaded onto the stub of Hemingway Road that runs past the end of the station, and a concrete pump boom truck delivering concrete into the site. The platform now has lighting fixtures. It is due to open on Monday!

More Cardiff Bay pictures (Thursday 31st Oct):

Temporary entrance on Lloyd George Avenue



Temporary zigzag path across the track to reach the platform





The roadworks on Hemingway Rd outside the station are for district heating, and not the Metro.

 

[CapitalStar378]

Almost 2 years on and this is the progress, still a building site! I guess that there's no hurry seeing that the 398s are way behind schedule.

Any sign of a start on the second platform at Butetown?

 

[Tomos y Tanc]

Yea, well most people don’t listen to the twaddle on Radio Wales but more people are likely to be informed if the second main station in Wales is closed if it were on the TV news.

You may not like the twaddle, and it's not my cup of tea either, but Radio Wales has around 250,000 listeners with the two Radio Cymru stations adding another 100,000. Wales Today on TV gets around 150,000 wihile Newyddion gets around 20,000.

Simply put,BBC radio in Wales reaches more people than TV.

 

[MikePJ]

Almost 2 years on and this is the progress, still a building site! I guess that there's no hurry seeing that the 398s are way behind schedule.

Any sign of a start on the second platform at Butetown?

No, no sign of it at all. The one thing that does seem to have appeared there are some more circular piles for overhead line masts.

 

[CapitalStar378]

No, no sign of it at all. The one thing that does seem to have appeared there are some more circular piles for overhead line masts.

That would be less concerning if it wasn't just Bob, Dai and his dog working on site most days

 

[Tom125]

You may not like the twaddle, and it's not my cup of tea either, but Radio Wales has around 250,000 listeners with the two Radio Cymru stations adding another 100,000. Wales Today on TV gets around 150,000 wihile Newyddion gets around 20,000.

Simply put,BBC radio in Wales reaches more people than

BBC Radio Wales had a 5.4% market share of radio in Wales during the last survey period. That means 94% of the Welsh population do not tune in to radio Wales.

Radio Cymru has a market share of 3%. Meaning 97% of the Welsh population do not tune into its offering.

Radio in Wales is highly competitive and both stations struggle to attract more listeners.

BBC Radio Wales - listening figures

The RAJAR listening figures and radio ratings for BBC Radio Wales, the radio station in the UK.

media.info

TV on the other hand accounts for a massive market share of news in Wales over 60% reach of the population both BBC (S4C provided by the BBC) and commercial (ITV). BBC News at 6.30pm is around 35-38% (population reach) of the News consumption in Wales. (Favoured by older age groups)

Nearly half of adults in Wales consume their news from social media however at 48%-50% of the population (favoured by younger age groups)

I hope that clarifies- the hierarchy of reach is-


TV News/ Social Media (the main consumption is BBC on both).
Radio (a tiny reach vs the first two).

 

[ajay1071]

BBC Radio Wales had a 5.4% market share of radio in Wales during the last survey period. That means 94% of the Welsh population do not tune in to radio Wales.

Radio Cymru has a market share of 3%. Meaning 97% of the Welsh population do not tune into its offering.

Radio in Wales is highly competitive and both stations struggle to attract more listeners.

BBC Radio Wales - listening figures

The RAJAR listening figures and radio ratings for BBC Radio Wales, the radio station in the UK.

media.info

TV on the other hand accounts for a massive market share of news in Wales over 60% reach of the population both BBC (S4C provided by the BBC) and commercial (ITV). BBC News at 6.30pm is around 35-38% (population reach) of the News consumption in Wales. (Favoured by older age groups)

Nearly half of adults in Wales consume their news from social media however at 48%-50% of the population (favoured by younger age groups)

I hope that clarifies- the hierarchy of reach is-


TV News/ Social Media (the main consumption is BBC on both).
Radio (a tiny reach vs the first two).

"Nearly half of adults in Wales consume their news via social media " if that is indeed the case then that accounts for the increase in gullibility in the population today, especially considering all the bull/ fake news on social media.

 

[Llanigraham]

"Nearly half of adults in Wales consume their news via social media " if that is indeed the case then that accounts for the increase in gullibility in the population today, especially considering all the bull/ fake news on social media.

However it can also mean that you read the on-line version of your local paper.

 

[5021]

Lots of activity at Cardiff Bay this morning - so much so that I couldn’t stop my bike safely by the station entrance to take pictures. There’s a road-ripper being unloaded onto the stub of Hemingway Road that runs past the end of the station, and a concrete pump boom truck delivering concrete into the site. The platform now has lighting fixtures. It is due to open on Monday!

More Cardiff Bay pictures (Thursday 31st Oct):

Temporary entrance on Lloyd George Avenue
View attachment 168259


Temporary zigzag path across the track to reach the platform
View attachment 168258


View attachment 168257

The roadworks on Hemingway Rd outside the station are for district heating, and not the Metro.

Staggering back to topic, the new platform won't be opening on Monday as according to the Weekly Operating Notice the slew has not happened - no new date for it is given. It would be very interesting to know what HAS happened in terms of track and signalling changes - TIA!

 

[MikePJ]

Staggering back to topic, the new platform won't be opening on Monday as according to the Weekly Operating Notice the slew has not happened - no new date for it is given. It would be very interesting to know what HAS happened in terms of track and signalling changes - TIA!

I’ll take a look on Monday morning. It did look very unfinished last week.

Relatedly, does anyone know if the wires to Coryton and Lisvane & Thornhill were energised as planned? They were supposed to go live on Wednesday.

Cardiff Bay and Butetown this morning (Monday 4th Nov). It’s not clear why the track slew didn’t happen, but trains appear to be running and serving the old platform.

Note the new concrete steps and ramp at the south end of Butetown station.

 

[CapitalStar378]

Thanks for the photos. It looks like the new platform isn't ready for use and is all a bit of a mess, maybe why it wasn't swapped over. Assume another possession may be needed to complete the slew.

 

[Smwrff]

There does not appear to be any progress on second platform/track at Butetown. Which means when it opens access will be from Lloyd George Avenue only.... Which defies the purpose of the station....

 

[CardiffKid]

There does not appear to be any progress on second platform/track at Butetown. Which means when it opens access will be from Lloyd George Avenue only.... Which defies the purpose of the station....

No progress yet.

What makes you think the station would open with only one platform?

 

[MikePJ]

There are only vague indications as to when Butetown will open, but the second track and new pointwork on the Bay branch are due to be in place in May. That all being said, the delivery schedule on the Bay branch has already slipped, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it slips further. But at some point soon it’ll become the bottleneck for the project, as without the second track you can’t increase the service.

More Cardiff Bay pictures (Tue 5th Nov), taken from the old platform. I get the impression that the opening of the new platform was intended to be just a limited, fenced-off area, as the platform itself is huge. But for whatever reason they’re not ready yet. Work today seems to be concentrating on the area near the original station building, looks like hardcore is being laid prior to new pedestrian paths being paved.

I've also added a few views from the train. It’s clear that there’ll be a tramway-style foot crossing at the city end of the platform, allowing passengers out onto Lloyd George Avenue.

As we passed Butetown, I could see vegetation cleared and a new cable duct and manhole have been installed where the new platform will go, but didn't manage to get a picture.

 

[Smwrff]

Butetown station could open using single platform and single track but it would not be ideal..... Especially if you live on Bute Street side

 

[vic-rijrode]

However it can also mean that you read the on-line version of your local paper.

Would a local paper count as "social media" though. I get most of my on-line information from the BBC app (yes, I know it's totally biased towards both left and right wing politics).

 

[AdamWW]

Anyone know what's going on today? Massive disruption but TfW do not seem to be willing to give the cause.

Something has apparently happened between Cardiff and Barry but it's not obvious to me why this has caused such disruption to the whole Valleys network, even given the current timetable which is much more susceptible to propagating disruption than the previous arrangement.

 

[Pat Figg]

Anyone know what's going on today? Massive disruption but TfW do not seem to be willing to give the cause.

Something has apparently happened between Cardiff and Barry but it's not obvious to me why this has caused such disruption to the whole Valleys network, even given the current timetable which is much more susceptible to propagating disruption than the previous arrangement.

I'm wondering that myself as I'm sat in the Railway pub near Waun-Gron Park station. Was supposed to be on the 1750 to Aberdare. That train actually ran but because it was about 10 minutes late they decided to not call at the City Line stations. They seem to do that all the time at the drop of a hat. Wouldn't be so bad if they hadn't already cancelled the1820 so now I'll be delayed by at least an hour. The City Line really is the poor relation. Was delayed over an hour this morning as well. Delay Repay here I come again.

 

[Envoy]

I'm wondering that myself as I'm sat in the Railway pub near Waun-Gron Park station. Was supposed to be on the 1750 to Aberdare. That train actually ran but because it was about 10 minutes late they decided to not call at the City Line stations. They seem to do that all the time at the drop of a hat. Wouldn't be so bad if they hadn't already cancelled the1820 so now I'll be delayed by at least an hour. The City Line really is the poor relation. Was delayed over an hour this morning as well. Delay Repay here I come again.

Seems to me that the City line was better off when it was just the actual service serving the city between Radyr & Coryton. (I was also stuck at WNG having seen my train fly through non stop due to late running in the valleys. If this is going to be a regular occurrence, people in Cardiff will just use the slower buses and all the money they have spent at WNG and other city stations will be down the drain).

 

[LlanishenBull]

I've had the same happen to me at Heath High Level.

One comment on yesterday. The issue was between Cardiff and Barry. It seemingly had a very disproportionate impact on valleys trains, you would expect some initial impact, but then start and finish in Cardiff until the incident is resolved. Doesn't seem well managed at all.

 

[MikePJ]

A couple of Sunday closures have been scheduled for the Bay line (24th Nov and 1st Dec) - it's possible that one of these may include the postponed track slew.

 

[5021]

A couple of Sunday closures have been scheduled for the Bay line (24th Nov and 1st Dec) - it's possible that one of these may include the postponed track slew.

On the evidence of my visit yesterday afternoon - see attachments - that looks a tall order. Platform 2 is still some way short of completion and I saw no sign of any track alterations having been done since my last visit a few months sgo, including the Queen Street end where there is still no direct link between Platform 5 and the branch. My photos are all too similar to those posted by others previously. Certainly makes you wonder exactly what WAS done during the blockade.

 

[Tom125]

What are the plans for the City Line (Radyr to Ninian Park) once the new timetable is introduced? Will it eventually be 4 trains per hour each way? Or remain as it is now with the Aberdare services stopping?

 

[John R]

What are the plans for the City Line (Radyr to Ninian Park) once the new timetable is introduced? Will it eventually be 4 trains per hour each way? Or remain as it is now with the Aberdare services stopping?

Stay as now. No plans to increase to 4tph until the junction near Canton depot is remodelled to increase capacity.

 

[MikePJ]

What are the plans for the City Line (Radyr to Ninian Park) once the new timetable is introduced? Will it eventually be 4 trains per hour each way? Or remain as it is now with the Aberdare services stopping?

It’ll remain as now. An upgrade to 4tph requires a change to Cardiff West Junction (specifically the access between platforms 6,7,8 and the City Line) which isn’t funded by the Metro project. If the Cardiff Crossrail scheme progresses beyond the current limited scope we may see the city line linked to the Bay via the new tram platforms in what’s currently the car park at Central.

 

[CapitalStar378]

On the evidence of my visit yesterday afternoon - see attachments - that looks a tall order. Platform 2 is still some way short of completion and I saw no sign of any track alterations having been done since my last visit a few months sgo, including the Queen Street end where there is still no direct link between Platform 5 and the branch. My photos are all too similar to those posted by others previously. Certainly makes you wonder exactly what WAS done during the blockade.

I feel that with a large enough team this could be completed in a few months, for some reason it's on a permanent go slow. Anyone have any inside info on what's going on?

 

[anthony263]

Stay as now. No plans to increase to 4tph until the junction near Canton depot is remodelled to increase capacity.

Cardiff West junction needs remodeling sadly

 

[Tren Stem]

What's the likelihood of that happening?