Length of trains cut to address stock shortage

ARRIVA Trains Wales has introduced emergency changes to train deployment, in response to a shortage of rolling stock.

Some ATW commuter trains into or out of Cardiff, Birmingham and Manchester have been shortened for the summer holiday season, when fewer people tend to travel to and from workplaces than during the rest of the year.

A major delay to introducing five additional four-car trains – announced last year – is one of several reasons ATW is now short of rolling stock. Some ATW services have had fewer coaches than usual or been cancelled on random days.

The temporary changes, introduced yesterday, are designed to ensure services have the same number of coaches each day. In many cases, there are longer trains before or after the one which has been shortened.

In total, 11 services per weekday now have shorter trains than ATW previously planned. The biggest cut in train seats is on the 9.33am from Shrewsbury to Birmingham, where 138 fewer seats are now provided.

The 7.32am Bargoed-Penarth and the 4.32pm Penarth-Bargoed (which leaves Cardiff Central at 4.46pm) are halved, with the loss of 121 seats, but the trains before and after continue with four coaches.

The 7.37am Ebbw Vale-Cardiff is cut from four to three coaches, losing 52 seats. The 5.37pm Cardiff CentralEbbw Vale loses 42 seats.

However, the main evening peak train to Maesteg, leaving Cardiff Central at 5.23pm, gains an extra carriage.

Services in West and Mid Wales – which are busier in the summer holidays than the rest of the year – have not had their trains shortened.

ATW customer services director Bethan Jelfs said: “We understand that having enough room onboard on trains is very important for the comfort of our customers and as such every available train is put into service during morning and evening peaks. With an ageing fleet of trains which travel hundreds of thousands of miles every year, it is important that we maintain our trains to the highest standards possible.

“We are currently delivering a major accessibility upgrade to our fleet in partnership with the Welsh Government to help meet the requirements of persons of reduced mobility. This requires some units to be taken out of service in order to undergo modifications for several months.

“In addition, major investment schemes in track infrastructure have also had an impact on our ability to get our trains where they need to be for planned maintenance, and we have worked closely with our partners in Network Rail to minimise the impact of this.

“The combination of these factors has meant a small number of services being formed of fewer carriages than planned over recent days. Our dedicated engineering teams are working night and day to do all they can to address this situation and we thank customers for their patience.”

A year ago, the Welsh Government announced that five four-coach “Flex” trains – converted from electric trains no longer needed in London – would be added to ATW’s fleet in 2018, to increase capacity and to