No trains to stop at station due to social distancing concerns

Trains will not be stopping at a railway station on the Rhymney line from next week, due to concerns over social distancing on the platform.

Gilfach Fargoed railway station, which is located between Pengam and Bargoed stations, is one of several stations in Wales that will be out of use during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Trains will not be stopping at stations found to have platforms too short or too curved to accommodate the opening of two train doors, as part of new safety measures announced by Transport for Wales (TfW).

Explaining the move, which they say will be in effect for “a short period of time”, a TfW spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that risk assessments found that two train doors had to be in operation to allow a safe distance between customers and conductors.

The spokesperson said: “The safety of our customers and colleagues is our top priority and over the past few weeks we’ve introduced additional safety measures at our stations and on our trains.

“We’ve undertaken risk assessments at all stations across the Wales and Borders network and in order to maintain a safe distance between the conductor and customers, we need to be able to operate two train doors.

“Unfortunately, due to the short platform length (and curvature of the platform in some cases), this is not possible at these stations.

“These small changes to our timetable are only for a short period of time as we continue to deal with challenges presented by Covid-19 and we’d like to thank all our customers for their patience and understanding.

“We’d like to reinforce our message that people should only use public transport for essential travel and where there are no other travel alternatives, and also highlight our five main principles for public transport users  – stay safe, avoid busy periods, follow our latest advice, exercise while you travel and respect our staff and other passengers at all times.”