Transport for Wales hails South Wales Metro electrification milestone
Transport for Wales has hailed a new milestone as work has been completed to electrify the railway line from Aberdare to Pontypridd and Merthyr Tydfil to Abercynon.
So far over 60km of Overhead Line Equipment (OLE) has now been energised across the whole South Wales Metro rail network, leaving around 110km still to be completed.
The £1 billion project involves laying 180km of new track, partly to convert 11 sections to twin-track line and the rest to create 11 passing loops.
The electrification of the track is required to power the new fleet of fully electric Class 398 tram-trains that will be introduced to the network.
The project to upgrade the Core Valley Lines and provide improved rail services across the region has been beset by delays and increased costs as a result of the pandemic and subsequent supply shortages.
Transformation
Karl Gilmore Rail Infrastructure Director at TfW said: “This is yet another key milestone in the transformation work of our core valley lines as we continue to progress in delivering the South Wales Metro.
“It’s really exciting to see more railway lines electrified in South Wales and through delivering the Metro we’ll be providing people with a more sustainable option of travel.
“Taff’s Well depot is the home of our new tram trains and it’s fantastic to see these light rail vehicles out on test which will soon be in passenger service”
The transformation of the Core Valley Lines for the Metro has been part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through Welsh Government, and will enable faster, more frequent services between Cardiff and the heads of the valleys.
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Does that mean that the only part unelectrified is Cardiff to Pontypridd?
They started testing the new tram/trains out of Taffs Well over 3 month ago, so would think Cardiff to Pontypridd is working. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TRqAJPXtM4
Very interested to spot that this excellent work is partly funded by “the European Regional Development Fund”. Just shows how stupid it was to abandon the EU as we might have got some funding for the north-south link and electrification to Swansea. It clearly is time for the Westminster Government to give Cymru the HS2 compensation that it has given the other Nations. We could then make the whole country more accessible by electric trains.
What a wonderful time for trains to go “electric”! With the government pushing EVs, and their extra pull on our electricity network & threats of blackouts this coming winter, we pile on more usage when electricity prices are sky high!
Electric motors are more energy efficient than ICE ones, plus it’s more efficient to burn your hydrocarbons in one big machine than millions of little ones. You’re right that BEVs are a nightmare though.
The overspend on this project must be enormous based on how slow they work.