Train services cut as TfW faces shortage of available trains

Nation.Cymru staff

Rail passengers are being warned of service changes across the Wales and Borders network this week because of a shortage of available trains.

Transport for Wales (TfW) is introducing a series of pre-planned alterations from today (Monday, August 17) after industrial action in its supply chain contributed to a maintenance backlog.

The changes include rail replacement services on the Conwy Valley line throughout the week.

Local rail services between Chester and Wrexham and between Crewe and Shrewsbury have also been withdrawn, with replacement buses operating instead.

TfW said passenger numbers on those routes were expected to be lower because of significant engineering work taking place over a two-week period.

Other services are planned to operate, although passengers have been warned there could be short-notice alterations or reduced capacity.

The disruption follows problems during the recent heatwave, which particularly affected some of TfW’s older trains.

Marie Daly, Chief Operating Officer at TfW, 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.”

TfW has also confirmed that a late service following Cardiff City’s Championship match against Wrexham tonight will continue to operate.

The 10.36pm service will run from Cardiff to Wrexham via Shrewsbury, Crewe and Chester.

TfW said it was also working with Network Rail to use the opportunity provided by the service alterations to carry out maintenance work on affected routes in an effort to improve resilience.

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