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Train chaos sees passengers stranded across South Wales Valley lines

News | Gareth Hill | Published: 11:18, Thursday July 24th, 2014.
Last updated: 11:26, Thursday July 24th, 2014

DISRUPTION: A lack of information at Cardiff Queen Street
DISRUPTION: A lack of information at Cardiff Queen Street

Commuters were left stranded in sweltering conditions after massive disruption to Valley line train services two days running.

Passengers at Caerphilly Railway Station had to wait over an hour to start their journey home on Tuesday and Wednesday this week due to signalling problems at Cardiff Queen Street.

The story was the same in Cardiff and across the South East Wales Valleys.

David Perkins from Thornhill works in Caerphilly Job Centre Plus.

He said: “The guy at the ticket office told me there would be a train every half an hour rather than the usual 15 minutes.

“If I’d known it would be so long for a train I would have got the bus.

“I’ve got an annual season ticket, I was lucky yesterday because I drove and I think I’ll drive tomorrow because I don’t trust the trains, but there will be road closures because of the Big Cheese so who knows.”

Commuters were particularly annoyed at adding more than an hour to their working day during the current heat wave.

DS Smith employee, Alistair Yeoman, from Lisvane, said: “Annoyingly it’s such a nice day, they always pick the best days.

“What’s the reason for it?”

Network Rail and Arriva Trains Wales said the chaos was due to signalling failures that occurred during line improvements, but commuters are angry at the lack of communication.

Tom Parkes, 21, works at Caerphilly Business Park and was trying to travel home to Treorchy last night, July 23.

He said: “When I got to Cardiff it was a nightmare. On platform seven there were eight to ten cars empty, not for public use.

“It was chaos, I don’t even think the train staff knew what was going on.

“I usually get home at 8.20pm, and it takes an hour from Cardiff, but I was still there past that time. My dad ended up giving me a lift home because it was so bad.”

Network Rail said improvement works in Cardiff were to blame
Network Rail said improvement works in Cardiff were to blame

An Arriva Trains Wales spokesperson said: “We apologise to our customers for the delays on our Rhymney line services on Tuesday July 22 and Wednesday July 23 which were unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control.

“The major disruption over the last couple of days was due to signalling problems. Network Rail is responsible for managing the rail infrastructure which includes signals.

“Information was communicated to our customers as and when it was passed to us by Network Rail.

“Discussions are underway with Network Rail to ensure these frustrating signalling problems are resolved in order to minimise any future disruption.”

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise to those passengers that have been disrupted and feel let down by the service.

“We’re currently investing £220m in a project to improve the railway in the Cardiff area. A major part of this project is the renewal of the 1960s signalling technology.

“Unfortunately we’ve encountered a number of difficulties which has impacted on train performance. We’re working with our contractors and suppliers to remedy the situation and we’re fully committed to delivering a better service.

“Whilst we are having some unacceptable short-term problems, this project will help deliver a bigger and better railway with station improvements, more platforms and a more reliable service.”

 

 

3 thoughts on “Train chaos sees passengers stranded across South Wales Valley lines”

  1. Realist UK says:
    Thursday, July 24, 2014 at 13:59

    A classic case of too much technology is of less benefit for the end user.

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  2. Jack Cooper says:
    Thursday, July 24, 2014 at 14:44

    I was livid, but felt slightly better when the replacement bus stopped near my comic book shop.

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  3. Purecelt says:
    Thursday, July 24, 2014 at 15:38

    This seems to be becoming a more frequent problem. I am still waiting for a refund from Arrive from 2 months ago for a service which never arrived. I’ve pretty much given up on them now and have taken to driving into Cardiff instead !!

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