Dozens of Welsh railway stations to get new passenger Help Points

Nation.Cymru staff

Passengers at dozens of railway stations across Wales are to get direct access to live travel advice as part of a £1m investment.

Transport for Wales (TfW) is introducing new Help Points at 48 locations across Wales, with the rollout focusing on unstaffed stations, those with less frequent services and places where mobile phone coverage is poor.

The Help Points, located on platforms or station concourses, allow passengers to speak directly to customer information controllers based in Wales at the press of a button.

They can be used to check train times, request assistance or report problems, with the majority of the controllers able to speak Welsh.

TfW manages 248 stations across Wales and the Borders, but currently fewer than half have Help Points.

Teleri Evans, TfW customer information manager, said: “We want customers to feel safe, confident and connected when out on our network.

“While there are a number of ways to find out what’s going on including our website, customer information channels and the information screens we operate at every station, we know we need to do more.

“There’s nothing worse than being at a station and not knowing what’s going on during disruption.

“So, we’re committing to installing these Help Points, starting with those stations with limited phone signal and ones that previously had BT payphones.”

The stations due to receive Help Points include Ammanford, Ferryside, Kidwelly, Kilgetty, Lamphey, Llandeilo, Llandovery, Llangadog, Manorbier, Narberth, Pembroke, Pembroke Dock, Pontyclun, Saundersfoot, Shotton, Tenby and Whitland.

Bangor, Conwy, Garth (Glamorgan), Llandudno Junction, Llanhilleth, Llantwit Major, Maesteg, Porthmadog, Pwllheli, Pyle, Rhoose, Sarn, Skewen, Tondu and Tonfanau are also included.

Further Help Points are planned for Bodorgan, Clarbeston Road, Dolau, Dyffryn Ardudwy, Holyhead, Knucklas, Llanbister Road, Llandanwg, Llandecwyn, Llandybie and Llangyllo.

Existing Help Points at Prestatyn, Abergele and Pensarn, Colwyn Bay, Holyhead and Conwy are also due to be replaced.

Bilingual assistance

TfW said the work would ensure bilingual assistance was available across the network.

Figures from the Office of Rail and Road show almost half of calls made from Help Points are from passengers seeking information such as when their next train will arrive.

Only 0.3% of calls are to request passenger assistance and 0.04% to report an emergency, underlining that the devices are intended for general passenger information rather than solely for emergencies.

Project manager Adam Zak said: “Installing new help points is a large undertaking and we are working hard with our partners in Network Rail to ensure the project can go ahead smoothly.

“We expect to get some dates confirmed in the next few months and to begin the work this financial year.”

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