From 2 June passengers from across the South Wales Valleys and Cardiff will benefit from more frequent services later into the night as delivery of the south Wales Metro moves another step closer.
New timetables on the Merthyr, Aberdare, Treherbert, Rhymney, City and Coryton lines will provide more regular services improving connectivity between the south Wales valleys and the capital city.
These changes include:
- Increase from 6 to 8 trains per hour between Cardiff and Pontypridd, with all 8 calling at Treforrest Estate
- Increase from 4 to 6 trains per hour between Caerphilly and Cardiff
- Increase from 1 to 2 trains per hour between Rhymney and Cardiff
- More frequent evening services between Cardiff and Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr
- A Sunday service on the Cardiff City line for the first time
- A new service from Pontypridd through to Cardiff Bay without the need to change at Queen Street
These changes will signal a new way of travelling for passengers, providing them with more choice and on some routes quicker commutes to and from the city.
For example, from June customers travelling from Aberdare, Llandaf, Cathays or Queen Street will have the option to change trains at Pontypridd or Radyr to reach their destination quicker.
The Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport, Ken Skates said: “This is an important step on the journey to deliver the South Wales Metro.
“The new timetable will mean more frequent journeys for passengers – improving connectivity, connecting people and creating opportunity.”
These timetable improvements are another step towards delivering the South Wales Metro which will eventually see four trains per hour from Treherbert, Aberdare, Rhymney and Merthyr to/from Cardiff.
Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “This change will deliver a host of benefits to customers across our Core Valley Routes.
“We’re making the change now so people can get some of those benefits early before we start introducing electric trains on these routes with an even more frequent service and faster journey times.
“The key message is to check before you travel if you use our valley line services.”
Elsewhere on the mainline network there will be some minor changes and all customers should check their journey details from 2 June onwards to ensure they have the latest information.
