Passengers warned to check before they travel over Easter weekend

Transport for Wales is strongly advising customers to check before they travel this Easter weekend as trains are expected to very busy and vital engineering work takes place.

With warmer weather forecast for the days ahead, services are expected to be particularly busy to coastal destinations such as the North Wales coast resorts and Barry Island.

Passenger numbers for weekends have increased significantly in recent months and are now at around 100% of pre-Covid numbers, so further increases in passenger numbers will mean some trains across the network are likely to be full and standing.

In addition to this, changes to services may be made at short notice as the rail industry continues to feel the impact of increased staff absences due to Covid-19.

Buses

In South Wales, buses will replace trains between Pontypridd and Radyr throughout the weekend as work continues on the transformation of the railway for the South Wales Metro, which will deliver faster, more frequent services between Cardiff and the valleys.

The work includes piling and foundation works in readiness for the installation of overhead line equipment.
The railway between Aberdare and Abercynon will also be closed from Sunday 17 April until Friday 13 May, with buses in operation between Aberdare and Pontypridd.

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 a footbridge, platform works and signalling maintenance.

Buses also replace trains between Cardiff Central and Ebbw Vale Town throughout the weekend as TfW’s industry partners Network Rail continue their work to upgrade the railway so that more services can be introduced.

TfW is asking rail customers to use Capacity Checker – an online portal that allows customers to check before they travel to see which trains have most space available.