IN WHAT has been labelled “a new era” for rail passengers in Wales, Transport for Wales (TfW)will this weekend take over control of the Wales and Borders rail service from Arriva Trains Wales.

The takeover will begin on Sunday, October 14. TfW, working on behalf of the Welsh government, has promised a transformation of the rail network by 2025.

James Price, TfW's chief executive, said: “From Sunday, the TfW brand will start to appear on uniforms, around stations and on trains and posters.

“Passengers will be welcomed by the same staff, and travel on the same trains on the same routes and timetables – and, importantly, their existing tickets will all still be valid as before.

“Behind the scenes, lots more positive changes will be starting to happen, and we’ll be keeping passengers informed all the way along.”

The firm’s plans for Gwent include station improvements at Chepstow and also at Abergavenny, where campaigners have long fought for improved accessibility.

READ MORE: Rail authorities 'passing the buck' over Abergavenny station upgrades

Across the network, more immediate changes include:

• A new customer website tfwrail.wales / trctrenau.cymru and app will be launched on 15th October for all information and queries.

• All Arriva Trains Wales staff will become TfW Rail Services staff, with new uniforms. (This is temporary, with plans to develop a new uniform in consultation with staff).

• TfW branding will be at stations and start to appear on some trains as well as on information leaflets and posters.

• Deep-cleaning of all stations begins

TfW has also published a “railmap” of its planned improvements to the network, including new and improved stations, more carriages, new rolling stock, better-value fares, and improved accessibility at all stations.

You can see that map at the foot of this article.

Mr Price said TfW's primary motivation behind planned the improvements was making a difference to people’s lives with a reliable rail service.

“We know what reliable rail travel actually means to people, and it’s so much more than getting from A to B,” he said.

“It’s making a job interview in plenty of time, getting home in time to bath the children, or arriving at work well before your shift starts.

“This timeline has been developed with the aim of giving people confidence that the train will get them where they need or want to be on time and in comfort, using a value-for-money, reliable, frequent service.

“And not just to get to work or school, but also for days out and trips away – so, for example, we’ll see new fare initiatives for 6-18 year olds by 2020, and there will be earlier first trains with 22 per cent more Sunday services across Wales by 2020.

“We really are putting our money where our mouth is. Rather than the industry standard of 30-minute delay repay, there will be a new commitment to refunds for delays of 15 minutes or more from January 2019.

“That journey starts on Sunday – and we hope the people of Wales and the Borders will join us on it.”