Work has started on improvements to a railway station as part of a Cardiff Capital Region Metro Plus scheme.
The long-awaited £7.1 million project at Pontypool and New Inn railway station will include a new car park which will be accessed off newly-built slip roads from the A4042.
New electric vehicle charging points will be installed, along with a new footbridge and a lift, to provide access from the car park to the station’s single ‘island’ platform.
The project – funded by Torfaen council, Cardiff Capital Region City Deal and Welsh Government – aims to increase the number of people who use the station from across the borough and surrounding area.
The scheme will be one of the first Cardiff Capital Region Metro Plus schemes to be delivered.
Good to see they are getting on with it and will soon be outpacing the three English together I suspect.Some tangible electrification work in the form of overhead wire gantries at Treforest, gone up over the last couple of weeks.
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One small, but important, point ... Callaghan Square is not the same place as Central Square.Media Wales is reporting that the rail link across Central Square to link with the Bay branch is moving forward.
New rail line planned for central Cardiff
The link will go across Callaghan Square and serve Butetown, Capital Quarter and Atlantic Wharfwww.walesonline.co.uk
Track enabling works have been carried out at Taff's Well in preparation for S&C to be installed over the Easter Weekend (Week 3, which starts 16th April). This is presumably for the new depot.after 12+ months of talking about the design, and numerous false starts on diffferent staging arrangements, Wk48 Taffs Well Mainline works finally under way this week in preparation for S&C installation in Wk3!!! It’s nice to see it come out of the page as they say!!! Arran Pickett Angharad Rees Ryan Ballinger Javier Sánchez Laguna Daniel Smith Daniel Sarvari
New concept designs for a future metro station.Quite interesting to see new concept designs for a future metro station at Pierhead Street in Cardiff Bay The station would be the first phase of Cardiff Crossrail eventually leading to Splott and St Mellons
To justify the decision to get tram-trains instead of trains?The Cardiff Council Planning Committee met today to approvable plans for the new arena in the inner Bay. It is planned to re-build the Bay branch as a twin track tramway starting in August 2022 with completion the following summer - terminating at or near the present station. However, the plans show the line being extended eventually in order to link through to Splott. These plans show this extension using up road space. OK if they have to cross roads but why actually run on street with the ramifications that the ‘tram-trains’ could get stuck in traffic & thus throw out the schedules? Surely, being as so many buildings such as The Red Dragon Centre are going to be demolished, a dedicated alignment could be found for this extension? This does not look like it has been well thought out.
The Planning Application number for this redevelopment on the Cardiff Planning Portal is:> 21-2687MJR.
See the images below for the Metro extension and note that they both differ as to where the tracks will go:>
The line through to Splott & Cardiff Parkway in intended to continue from the planned new link from Central as far as I know, which is included in the "Cardiff Crossrail' proposal from J33 of the M4 via Plasdwr, and potentially Beddau/Llantrisant. I have no idea what service patterns are planned, if any, at this stage though.I wonder what the proposed extensions to the line down at the Bay also mean for the proposed timetables? My understanding was that the dedicated Bay shuttle was being removed in favour of routing half the valleys services down to the Bay from Queen Street (rather than into Central) in order to deal with the increased frequency of those services (so from each head of the valley, 2 of the four trains an hour would go into central to provide the same frequency into there as we have now, and the additional 2 trains an hour would go down to the Bay). Is that no longer the plan, or will it have to be reworked if / when any extensions to Splott etc down the Bay happen?
Probably, but then there wouldn't be direct trains/trams to the new tram extension from every branch, so politically unacceptable (to the Welsh government people who thought up the idea).A very quick question here:
Would it have been easier and simpler to have the Bay shuttle converted to trams taking over the Coryton arm (with extensions at either end to further penetrate the Bay area, and from Coryton to Radyr)?
That way, Treherbert would have 4tph to Cardiff, with 2 via Fairwater and Ninian Park, returning north via Cathays, and the other 2 the opposite way i.e. running in a balloon loop. Also, Rhymney/Bargoed - Penarth still retains 4tph, and Aberdare (Hirwaun when reopened)/Merthyr Tydfil would have their frequency doubled to 4tph from each to either Barry Island/Bridgend.
So an enhancement to the existing line and conversion by summer 2023, rather than the extension. I had read somewhere, on this thread probably, that a new alignment was being considered between Cardiff and the bay area.8.111 Transport for Wales (TFW) is on target to commence works on the Core Valley Line (CVL) extension from Queen Street station to Cardiff Bay in August 2022, with works due to be completed by the summer of 2023. The TfW works include the provision of a dual track link between Queen Street station and the existing Cardiff Bay station as well as improvements to the existing Cardiff Bay station and a new station at Loudoun Square. The opportunity may exist in future to extend the line further into Cardiff Bay connecting to a proposed new transport hub at Pierhead Street and on to a new station at Roath Basin.
No information appears to be available as to how they intend to link the Bay line with Central Station south side - which would involve crossing major roads. Will it be elevated to avoid the traffic - goodness knows? Is this also part of the works that will start in August 2022?
To me it would make more sense, although much more expensive, to cross the line from Queen St onto Lloyd George avenue at the North end, at the first opportunity off the current bridge and run the line down the length of Lloyd George Avenue.The Cardiff Council Planning Committee met today to approve plans for the new arena in the inner Bay. It is planned to re-build the Bay branch as a twin track tramway starting in August 2022 with completion the following summer - terminating at or near the present station. However, the plans show the line being extended eventually in order to link through to Splott. These plans show this extension using up road space. OK if they have to cross roads but why actually run on street with the ramifications that the ‘tram-trains’ could get stuck in traffic & thus throw out the schedules? Surely, being as so many buildings such as The Red Dragon Centre are going to be demolished, a dedicated alignment could be found for this extension? This does not look like it has been well thought out.
The Planning Application number for this redevelopment on the Cardiff Planning Portal is:> 21-2687MJR.
See the images below for the Metro extension and note that they both differ as to where the tracks will go:>
Also, Rhymney/Bargoed - Penarth still retains 4tph, and Aberdare (Hirwaun when reopened)/Merthyr Tydfil would have their frequency doubled to 4tph from each to either Barry Island/Bridgend.
There is insufficient capacity through Cardiff Central and no funding to increase it.
That's why the current CVL plan has six trains per hour to Cardiff Bay and only six to Cardiff Central.
Frequency on the Barry/Penarth & Bridgend remains similar to what it is nowDoes this mean that Penarth drops from every 15 minutes to every 30 minutes, with Barry Island and Bridgend via Rhoose being every 30 minutes each?
Now every 15 minutesDoes this mean that Penarth drops from every 15 minutes to every 30 minutes, with Barry Island and Bridgend via Rhoose being every 30 minutes each?
I never had problems in the X2’s on the old route when I drove itThe line to Bridgend via Rhoose will be 1 train every 30 minutes. (This is the shortest & quickest way to get from Barry to Bridgend & points west).
I think that it is vital that the City Line goes to a 15 minute service as soon as possible. No sign yet of anything being done to build the station at Ely Mill despite all the new housing. They have not even opened up the underpass to create a short cut for pedestrians to Cowbridge Road for buses. Traffic congestion in Broad Street / Lansdowne Road is now horrendous. Even First have given up on routing their Cowbridge & Porthcawl buses via Lansdowne Road as they now use the A4232 expressway.
Traffic really isn't too bad on Broad Street if you avoid the start and end of the school day. With Fitzalan High due to move to its new site in September it's a temporary problem at most.The line to Bridgend via Rhoose will be 1 train every 30 minutes. (This is the shortest & quickest way to get from Barry to Bridgend & points west).
I think that it is vital that the City Line goes to a 15 minute service as soon as possible. No sign yet of anything being done to build the station at Ely Mill despite all the new housing. They have not even opened up the underpass to create a short cut for pedestrians to Cowbridge Road for buses. Traffic congestion in Broad Street / Lansdowne Road is now horrendous. Even First have given up on routing their Cowbridge & Porthcawl buses via Lansdowne Road as they now use the A4232 expressway.
The latest stage of the development means that from Monday 28 March, the current evening Sunday to Thursday rail replacement bus service between Pontypridd and Radyr will extend to and from Cardiff Central as engineers carry out piling and foundation works in readiness for the installation of overhead line equipment.
The Evening City Line services in Cardiff will also be replaced by buses from Monday 4 April between Monday and Thursday only.
Work will also affect services between Pontypridd and Radyr over the weekends of 1-3 April and 15-18 April.
Meanwhile, from Sunday 17 April to Friday 13 May 2022, the railway between Aberdare and Abercynon will be closed to allow engineering work to take place.
Replacement bus services will be in operation between Aberdare and Pontypridd, to connect to and from train services.
The 26-day closure will allow engineers to carry out complex work including the installation of foundations for overhead line equipment, demolition and reconstruction of the footbridge between Penrhiwceiber and Cwm Cynon Business Park, platform works, signalling maintenance and testing, line speed improvements, and cutting back vegetation.
Seems odd to see "cutting back vegetation" in that work programme. Isn't it illegal to cut back vegetation during the spring and summer in order to protect nesting birds?New closures have been released to the public.
From the Nation.
Transport for Wales announce service disruptions as South Wales Metro plans advance
Rail travellers may face some disruptions as the next stage of the South Wales Metro development gets underway. Transport for Wales (TfW) is continuing to move forward with the building of the South Wales Metro with major works being undertaken across the Core Valley Lines in the spring. TfW...nation.cymru