All that’s wrong with public transport here
Train journey shows
WE’VE all got our fair share of complaints about getting anywhere by train across South Wales.
If it’s expensive tickets, delayed or cancelled services and a seemingly baffling roulette of how many carriages are going to show up, we’ve all been there.
But for one traveller last week, what should have been a simple 39-minute journey turned into a painful mix of everything that’s frustrating with the rail service between the Valleys and Cardiff.
In the space of just a few hours, John Hillman faced annoying ticket rules, unstaffed stations and the three words all rail-users fear – bus replacement services.
John, 42, from Abercynon, said that in his “absolute naivety” he decided to catch a Transport for Wales (TfW) train between Abercynon and Cardiff to attend a business meeting last Thursday afternnon.
John explained: “Having arrived at Abercynon station, I was escorted by three members of staff to an automated machine to pay £7.40 for a return train ticket at 3.27pm despite the prospect of missing the next train.
“I was informed that if I did not purchase a ticket in advance I would be committing a criminal offence under a by-law and would be removed from the train.
“I duly obliged and caught the train with seconds to spare.
“I thought that this was a little austere in today’s technological age, however I respected the conditions imposed by the operator.”
After spending the afternoon in the capital, John cut his evening short so he could catch the 10.26pm train back to Abercynon.
But after arriving at the unmanned Queen Street Station, he was informed a dreaded bus replacement service was in place.
John said: “This variation was not detailed on [the Transport for Wales] website.
“Having alighted at Pontypridd, again completely unmanned, I was genuinely amazed to establish that there was no replacement bus service, signs, advice, guidance etc.
“Having only a credit card on my person, I was forced into agreeing a deal with a local taxi driver to drive me to a petrol station to pay £15 for his fuel in return for a lift circa five miles to Abercynon.”
He described the whole level of service as “not acceptable”.
In a letter sent to both our website WalesOnline and TfW, John said: “My major concern was appreciating the level of risk that your service is placing on the elderly and vulnerable members of society. I was chilled by the prospect that my elderly parents or teenage children could be effectively abandoned by the irresponsible, negligent actions of your service.
“I am keen to establish your [TfW] rationale behind this negligence and wilful disregard of customers.”
Transport for Wales director of customer experience Colin Lea said: “We can confirm that there was late-night Network Rail engineering work north of Pontypridd on Thursday night. In order to get people home, we arranged for
Have your say on this story at www. .co.uk replacement buses to stations up to Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil.
“These buses were scheduled to be running at 11.04pm and 11.19pm going from the immediate front of Pontypridd Station, which both called at Abercynon, and there are posters in the station which outline the location of replacement buses.
“We would like to apologise to the customer for their poor experience with the replacement bus operation in this instance and we would urge them to contact our customer relations team, who will be able to investigate further and address the specific points.
“In terms of the points raised about the start of the customer’s journey, by law customers must buy a ticket prior to boarding to travel on any train in the UK where purchasing facilities are available.
“There is a significant loss to the rail industry through ticketless travel, so revenue protection officers will sometimes operate on our network to ensure this law is being complied with and to assist customers with using ticket machines where required.”