On track: Porthcawl land train attraction due to open next month

Hannah Neary, local democracy reporter

A new road train attraction in Porthcawl is set to be up and running next month.

Homeless charity Emmaus South Wales plans to launch the service, that will roll between Sandy Bay and Rest Bay, in early August.

Jemma Wray, chief executive officer for Emmaus South Wales, said: “We’re really excited to get going. The train arrived with us on Tuesday, it’s been refurbished and is looking really smart.”

The land train will run from March to October, seven days a week, stopping at sites including Coney Pleasure Beach, the Grand Pavilion and Rest Bay Watersports Centre.

Ms Wray said the vehicle has been refurbished with a new announcement system and rainguards. It will be able to carry 68 passengers and has wheel-chair access.

“We’re hoping to operate the service between 10 am and 4pm and it’ll be an hourly service,” she said. “The total journey time is about a 45-minute round trip, which gives us time to clean down carriages in between runs.”

Emmaus is an international charity which aims to tackle homelessness by providing people with housing and jobs. It provides supported accommodation to 24 formerly-homeless adults in Bridgend as well as employment through it’s three shops in the local area.

The last time the town had a road train was in 2008 and it was called the Promenade Princess.

Bridgend Council agreed to bring the attraction to Porthcawl during a cabinet meeting in November, with the aim of attracting more visitors to the area.

The Welsh Government gave the council more than £11,400 for the land train as part of the Visit Wales Tourist Attractor Destinations scheme.

The council announced its decision to allow Emmaus to operate the train in May.