Rail replacement buses planned as TfW faces train shortage

Transport for Wales has announced it will be making service amendments across the Wales and Borders network this week due to a shortage of available trains.

Due to industrial action in its supply chain and a subsequent maintenance backlog, TfW will have a reduced number of trains available for service from Monday 17 August.

To provide a consistent service for passengers, TfW will be making some pre-planned service alterations to services from Monday. Changes include:

• Rail replacement services on the Conwy Valley line throughout the week.
• Withdrawal of the Chester – Wrexham and Crewe – Shrewsbury local rail services due to reduced numbers expected on these routes with significant engineering work taking place for two weeks. Replacement buses will be in place.

Other services across the network are planned to run but may be subject to short-notice alterations or reduced capacity.

Marie Daly, Chief Operating Officer at Transport for Wales said: “We know it’s been a difficult few weeks for customers because of the impact of the heatwave on our services, particularly on our older trains, and because industrial action in our supply chain means we have fewer trains available than normal.

“Our older trains will return to service now temperatures have dropped but going into next week we will still be short of the number of trains we need to run a full and normal service.

“We’re making temporary changes to give customers as much notice as possible and to reduce the need for on-the-day cancellations.

“We would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience this may cause.”

Services for the FA Community Shield on August 16 will not be affected, as there are fewer timetabled services on Sundays than the rest of the week.

A service from Cardiff to Wrexham via Shrewsbury, Crewe and Chester on Monday evening at 2236 following the Cardiff v Wrexham Championship match will also remain in place.

TfW is also working with Network Rail to use the opportunity to deliver maintenance activities on the routes to improve resilience.