Recent from talks
South Wales Metro
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
South Wales Metro
The South Wales Metro (Welsh: Metro De Cymru) is an integrated heavy rail, light rail and bus-based public transport services and systems network being developed in South East Wales around the hub of Cardiff Central railway station. The development will also include the electrification of the core Valley Lines and new stations: all nine lines will be electrified.
The first phase was approved for development in October 2013. A new depot was constructed at Taff's Well and new trains were built by Stadler Rail in Switzerland. The first few of the new Stadler trains entered service late 2024, and the first tram-trains will enter service in the second half of 2025. The first phase of the service is expected to be fully in operation by the start of 2026.
The rail-based transport system in South Wales was heavily cut down following the Beeching report. By the 1970s, Wales kept less than half of the track it had in 1914. There were closures of some lines and many sub-branches, mainly serving the ex-mining communities, and their easy links to ports and resorts on the coast. Since 1987, five of the main closures have been reversed: services were reinstated on Cardiff's City Line that year, the Aberdare Line the following year, the Maesteg Line in 1992, the Vale of Glamorgan Line between Barry and Bridgend in 2005, and the Ebbw Vale Line in 2008.
In February 2011, Cardiff Business Partnership (CBP) and the Institute of Welsh Affairs published a report by Professor Mark Barry of Cardiff University, calling for an investment of £2.5 billion over ten years to connect Cardiff, Newport and the South Wales Valleys. The report concluded that with the stated investment in a regional metro system, by 2025 it would be possible to travel from the Heads of the Valleys to Cardiff or Newport in 40 minutes, by combining electrified heavy rail and light rail systems and boosted by faster rail links to London and Heathrow Airport.
After the Welsh Government, supported by parties including a CBP team led by Mark Barry, lobbied at Westminster for the extension of the Great Western Main Line electrification programme west to Swansea, and north into the South Wales Valleys, Barry developed a more detailed blueprint plan for Cardiff. After internal consultation, this was submitted by CBP to the Welsh Government's Business Minister Edwina Hart in December 2012. The scheme proposed a £200 million investment in a Cardiff Crossrail scheme based on trams, between St Mellons in the east via Cardiff Central, south into Cardiff Bay, north to Coryton, converting a number of Valley Lines heavy rail routes to light rail, and a new route north-west via Ely and Radyr Court to the M4 motorway near Creigiau.
From Autumn 2012, Barry led the private sector Metro Consortium, with the common aim of promoting the South Wales Metro project, which included representatives from Capita, Jones Lang LaSalle, The Urbanists and Steer Davies Gleave. They produced a further interim report, "A Cardiff City Region Metro: transform | regenerate | connect" published in February 2013. Hart then commissioned Barry to lead a more detailed analysis of the potential benefits: The Metro Impact Study of October 2013. This more substantive report concluded that an initial £1 billion investment in an integrated metro transport network for South East Wales could, within 30 years, add 420,000 people to the network, create 7,000 new jobs and invest an additional £4 billion into the regional economy.
In October 2013, after Barry had submitted his report to Hart at the end of summer 2013, the Business Minister endorsed the report. She allocated £62 million for phase one of the scheme to improve bus and rail links, including rail infrastructure improvements, station upgrades, park and ride schemes, bus corridors, and walking and cycling schemes. She also set up a working group to examine detailed proposals for the potential subsequent stages of the Cardiff Capital Region Metro system.
In 2024, Barry documented his recollections of the advocacy and development of the Cardiff Capital Region (or South Wales) Metro from 2010-2024, in his book, How to build a Metro.
Hub AI
South Wales Metro AI simulator
(@South Wales Metro_simulator)
South Wales Metro
The South Wales Metro (Welsh: Metro De Cymru) is an integrated heavy rail, light rail and bus-based public transport services and systems network being developed in South East Wales around the hub of Cardiff Central railway station. The development will also include the electrification of the core Valley Lines and new stations: all nine lines will be electrified.
The first phase was approved for development in October 2013. A new depot was constructed at Taff's Well and new trains were built by Stadler Rail in Switzerland. The first few of the new Stadler trains entered service late 2024, and the first tram-trains will enter service in the second half of 2025. The first phase of the service is expected to be fully in operation by the start of 2026.
The rail-based transport system in South Wales was heavily cut down following the Beeching report. By the 1970s, Wales kept less than half of the track it had in 1914. There were closures of some lines and many sub-branches, mainly serving the ex-mining communities, and their easy links to ports and resorts on the coast. Since 1987, five of the main closures have been reversed: services were reinstated on Cardiff's City Line that year, the Aberdare Line the following year, the Maesteg Line in 1992, the Vale of Glamorgan Line between Barry and Bridgend in 2005, and the Ebbw Vale Line in 2008.
In February 2011, Cardiff Business Partnership (CBP) and the Institute of Welsh Affairs published a report by Professor Mark Barry of Cardiff University, calling for an investment of £2.5 billion over ten years to connect Cardiff, Newport and the South Wales Valleys. The report concluded that with the stated investment in a regional metro system, by 2025 it would be possible to travel from the Heads of the Valleys to Cardiff or Newport in 40 minutes, by combining electrified heavy rail and light rail systems and boosted by faster rail links to London and Heathrow Airport.
After the Welsh Government, supported by parties including a CBP team led by Mark Barry, lobbied at Westminster for the extension of the Great Western Main Line electrification programme west to Swansea, and north into the South Wales Valleys, Barry developed a more detailed blueprint plan for Cardiff. After internal consultation, this was submitted by CBP to the Welsh Government's Business Minister Edwina Hart in December 2012. The scheme proposed a £200 million investment in a Cardiff Crossrail scheme based on trams, between St Mellons in the east via Cardiff Central, south into Cardiff Bay, north to Coryton, converting a number of Valley Lines heavy rail routes to light rail, and a new route north-west via Ely and Radyr Court to the M4 motorway near Creigiau.
From Autumn 2012, Barry led the private sector Metro Consortium, with the common aim of promoting the South Wales Metro project, which included representatives from Capita, Jones Lang LaSalle, The Urbanists and Steer Davies Gleave. They produced a further interim report, "A Cardiff City Region Metro: transform | regenerate | connect" published in February 2013. Hart then commissioned Barry to lead a more detailed analysis of the potential benefits: The Metro Impact Study of October 2013. This more substantive report concluded that an initial £1 billion investment in an integrated metro transport network for South East Wales could, within 30 years, add 420,000 people to the network, create 7,000 new jobs and invest an additional £4 billion into the regional economy.
In October 2013, after Barry had submitted his report to Hart at the end of summer 2013, the Business Minister endorsed the report. She allocated £62 million for phase one of the scheme to improve bus and rail links, including rail infrastructure improvements, station upgrades, park and ride schemes, bus corridors, and walking and cycling schemes. She also set up a working group to examine detailed proposals for the potential subsequent stages of the Cardiff Capital Region Metro system.
In 2024, Barry documented his recollections of the advocacy and development of the Cardiff Capital Region (or South Wales) Metro from 2010-2024, in his book, How to build a Metro.
Recent media