New £43k shelter might not be part of railway station redevelopment

A new £43,000 shelter for passengers waiting at Caerphilly railway station is not part of the wider regeneration plans for the site.

Transport for Wales installed the shelter and moved a ticket vending machine into the structure in February.

That same month, council planners granted planning permission for the town’s existing railway and bus stations to be demolished and replaced with a new interchange.

But it is unclear whether the shelter will remain in place while the rest of the station’s buildings and infrastructure are torn down to make way for a replacement.

Caerphilly Council suggested the structure, which belongs to Transport for Wales (TfW), could be removed because of that work.

A decision won’t be made on its future, however, until planners reach the next stage of the interchange project and produce detailed designs.

Responding to a Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request, TfW told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the “total cost to supply and install the new combined waiting [and] cycle shelter at Caerphilly was £43,063.50”. 

The ticket vending machine was already installed on platform three, “although our costs included the relocation of the [machine] into the new shelter along with provision of cycle hoops,” TfW added.

Caerphilly Council said that if planners decided that the shelter “is to be moved or relocated, then this would be in liaison and agreement with TfW who are also acting as the council’s project manager”.

The council also said TfW will “remain responsible for the management of the train station, and it is intended they will also be responsible for the management of the new interchange facility”.

But the design of the new interchange will be led by the council, according to Transport for Wales.

In a statement delivered via Caerphilly Council, a TfW spokesperson said the new shelter was part of our ongoing work to improve facilities at our stations in the South Wales Metro area”.

“This is not part of the wider Caerphilly interchange project, which is currently being developed by Caerphilly County Borough Council,” they added.

The interchange project is currently in development and no date has been set for work to begin on the ground.