Expect three more years of local train strife
TfW took on the franchise from Arriva with promises of breathing new life into the service, but one year on it has already descended into chaos with delayed and cancelled services, not to mention dangerously overcrowded carriages.
The recent weather has again created more problems, placing increased pressure on the line and leaving passengers in the lurch.
And TfW tell us that there is light at the end of a very long tunnel, so expect at least three more years of a sub-standard service.
A TfW spokesperson said: “We’re very sorry for disruption caused to any passenger’s journeys on the Cambrian Line in recent months. We recognise that there have been issues on this route due to a shortage of trains, staff availability, signalling issues and more recently bad weather conditions. However, we are working hard to resolve all these issues and expect to see an improvement in the near future.
“The disruption over the weekend has been due to heavy rainfall and flooding, which meant the Cambrian Line was closed between Machynlleth and Newtown and road transport in place.
“A new fleet of trains is being built specifically for the Cambrian Line and will be introduced from 2022. These trains will deliver increased capacity for passengers but will also run with faster acceleration, allowing services to meet the timetable more reliably.
“We will be introducing an hourly weekday service between Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth from December 2022, after the introduction of our new trains.
“Until the new trains are introduced, we will continue to work collaboratively with our partners in Network Rail to resolve issues around the signalling system.”
Live service updates are available at https://journeycheck.com/tfwrail/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|