TfW trains delayed by more than a million minutes in one year
TRANSPORT for Wales trains caused over a million minutes of delays in 2023, the worst year since it took over the Wales and Borders network in 2018.
This shocking fact was revealed by Welsh current affairs programme Y Byd ar Bedwar, as part of its investigation into the public transport provider’s service quality.
It also found out that more than 83,000 complaints about the service had been made since 2020 through a Freedom of Information request.
One community feeling let down by the local public transport service is Maesteg, in Bridgend.
Some locals feel as if they are “stuck” there due to poor service.
Aled Williams, a resident of Maesteg, has been sharing his frustrating experiences with Transport for Wales trains since December.
His journeys to Bridgend, Cardiff and Newport have been plagued by late and overcrowded trains, missed connections and outright cancellations without alternative transport options.
In Aled’s words, the local service is simply “unreliable”.
He added: “Sometimes, you will be waiting on the platform and then there will be an announcement saying the train is late, and then later, and then later – and then it doesn’t come at all. But there will be no prior warning that it won’t be coming, and there’s only one train an hour.
“It is happening more and more often recently,” he said. “But it is harder to come back than to go somewhere.”
At the moment, a train from Maesteg to Cardiff leaves every hour during weekdays. There are options to catch the bus during the week – however, after recent cuts there are no buses from Bridgend to Maesteg after 5.30pm.
Many people who travel regularly told Y Byd ar Bedwar that the train often ends its journey early, without any warning, in Tondu and does not reach Maesteg. This happens because there is only one track connecting Tondu and Maesteg stations, so if one train is late, there’s no way for two trains to pass each other.
Aled said that this situation isn’t good enough for people who are keen to get home: “On the train it would take 10 minutes, maybe 15. There’s no way to walk.
“Often, people just have to wait in Tondu and hope that another train will come, or they might ask for a lift or get a taxi, which could cost around £15-£20 – that’s if you can find one at all.
“People are left stuck wherever the train decides to stop. We are a small town with big towns around us – Port Talbot, Swansea, Cardiff, Bridgend.”
Even though this is a regular problem for Aled, he says driving a car isn’t an option for him.
In Bridgend, one in five homes don’t have a car or van, and Aled says: “I know that I won’t be able to afford a car or lessons, to be honest. I am reliant on this service, and it does not work – they’re getting worse and worse.”
A YouGov poll for ITV Cymru Wales in December 2023 asked 1,000 people what they thought of Transport for Wales’ train service. Almost half (45%) said it was unreliable.
Aled, who has missed appointments because of local services, now plans his important trips more carefully.
“If I have an appointment in Bridgend or something like that, I tend to leave an hour earlier, just to make sure that I can get there at all. It impacts people when they are trying to find a job. There is no point for them to find a job where they will be unable to come home from work, or if they do not earn enough money to pay the taxi back. It is better for them to just sit in the house.”
Gethin Jones, public affairs manager at Transport for Wales, agreed that these “concerns were very valid”.
He added: “We know that there is room to improve services, within this area particularly – and that’s why we have invested, since 2018, £800m into a new fleet of trains and to improve stations.”
The company announced that new Class 197 trains have been running on the line from the middle of February. However, many commuters have told Y Byd ar Bedwar that they haven’t noticed any improvement in the service’s reliability.
Since the announcement, some passengers have found themselves on services with old Class 150 trains.
Mr Jones said: “The hope is that by the end of this year and into the next there will be a specific fleet running from Maesteg to Cardiff.
“On the investment that we are making, since Transport for Wales took over the franchise in 2018, we inherited old fleets of trains, for example. It is quite clear that there were a few years where investment into the railways in Wales wasn’t enough.”
He added: “Changing railways does not happen overnight and it is clear that we understand the amount of work ahead of us. However, what’s good is that this work is happening now.”
A Welsh Government spokesman said in a statement: “This has been a challenging time for the railways but it is important to recognise that performance has improved over the last few months.
“We will continue to invest and work to provide an integrated and sustainable transport system of the highest quality.”