Wales finally joins the electric age as Cardiff Central goes live
ELECTRIC trains are now operating to Cardiff Central after the completion of work between St Brides, near Newport, and the Welsh capital over the Christmas holidays.
A year later than expected, GWR’s first eastbound electric train was the 08.50 Cardiff to Paddington on January 5.
Electric operation is now possible for all but a few miles between London Paddington and Cardiff via Bristol Parkway using GWR’s Class 80x bi-mode trains. However, diesel power is still required through the wet conditions of the Severn Tunnel, where Network Rail has not yet resolved issues with maintaining the 25kV AC power supply.
Until January, Wales was famously said to be one of only three countries in
Europe without a single mile of electrified railway.
The introduction of electric operation leaves just Albania and Moldova holding that dubious honour.
GWR’s interim managing director Matthew Golton said: “It was really important for me to be in South Wales to celebrate this landmark for our services. This will allow us to deliver more frequent services, more seats and quicker journeys for customers.”
The South Wales Main Line was closed between December 24 and January 2 to allow the final installations of overhead line equipment ahead of testing and commissioning.
Tests included the rare sight of a DB Cargo Class 90 electric in the Principality, running with two Class 67s and coaching stock, hired to create an ad hoc overhead line test train.
Completion of electrification work has allowed GWR to reduce journey times between the two capitals by an average of 14 minutes and add extra trains to provide 15,000 additional seats on weekdays.
The £3billion Great Western Electrification Project (costed at £874million in 2009) involved electrifying more than 150 miles of route between London, Newbury and Cardiff, installing more than 4,200 masts and gantries, about 400 miles of wire, and alterations to 137 structures.
However, after massive cost overruns, several sections of the project were deferred or cancelled to save money, including Cardiff to Swansea, Didcot to Oxford and Bristol Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads.
Elsewhere over the Christmas period NR replaced a significant amount of track, and renewed switches and crossings at the east end of Newport station, replaced the surface edges of platforms 2-4, and made adjustments to OHL equipment in preparation for the first electric trains on January 5.