PASSENGERS have been forced to endure significant delays to their travel plans over the last week due to damages to the carriages caused by storms that have rocked South Wales in recent weeks.

In the last week alone, more than 100 trains each day were either cancelled or altered. Transport for Wales have placed the blame firmly with the severe weather that has damaged numerous carriages, so they were unusable, and other unforeseeable operational issues.

They have confirmed that engineers are working to get the damaged carriages repaired, but say it is unlikely they will be fully operational again until early next year.

A Transport for Wales spokesperson said: “Following the storms in November, several trains have suffered wheel damage and other issues, which has left us with a shortage of available trains and carriages.

“As a result, there have been approx.100 cancellations or alterations each day over the last week due to train shortages and other factors e.g. weather disruption, incidents on the network.

“We have a comprehensive programme in place for repairing the damaged wheels on the trains affected, which will take most of December to complete.

 “Our engineers are working as fast as they can to get the repairs completed and we would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused.”

There are some further cancellations and alterations to services across the Transport for Wales expected this afternoon, evening and into tomorrow.

The following trains are confirmed as cancelled for today (Sunday, December 10):

  • 15:15 Maesteg to Cardiff Central due at 16:12 – problem under investigation
  • 16:15 Carmarthen to Milford Haven due 17:11 – train driver shortage
  • 17:30 Milford Haven to Carmarthen due 18:25 – train driver shortage

These trains have been delayed or altered for today (Sunday, December 10):

  • 12:31 Manchester Piccadilly to Carmarthen due 17:50 – due to a train fault, will no longer call at Bridgend, Pyle, Port Talbot Parkway, Neath, Swansea, Gowerton, Llanelli, Pembrey & Burry Port and Carmarthen
  • 14:30 Manchester Piccadilly to Milford Haven due 21:16 – due to be terminated at Carmarthen. It will no longer call at Whitland, Clunderwen, Clarbeston Road, Haverfordwest, Johnston and Milford Haven. This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
  • 14:55 Swansea to Manchester Piccadilly due 19:14 – Delayed at Bridgend due to signalling fault
  • 16:10 Cheltenham Spa to Cardiff Central due 17:35 – Will begin at Gloucester at 16.29 due to signalling fault
  • 16:20 Shrewsbury to Cardiff Central due 21:37 – To be terminated at Llanelli. It will no longer call at Gowerton, Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot Parkway, Bridgend and Cardiff Central. This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
  • 16:24 Pembroke Dock to Swansea due 18:49 – Will terminate at Carmarthen, and will no longer call at Ferryside, Kidwelly, Pembrey & Burry Port, Llanelli, Gowerton and Swansea. Due to shortage of train drivers.
  • 19:29 Manchester Piccadilly to Swansea due 23:57 – Will terminate at Cardiff Central, and will no longer call at Bridgend, Pyle, Port Talbot Parkway, Neath and Swansea. This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
  • 21:35 Milford Haven to Cardiff Central due 00:31 - Will be started from Swansea.
  • It will no longer call at Milford Haven, Johnston, Haverfordwest, Clarbeston Road, Clunderwen, Whitland, Carmarthen, Ferryside, Kidwelly, Pembrey & Burry Port, Llanelli and Gowerton. This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
  • 22:30 Cardiff Central to Carmarthen due 00:31 - Will be terminated at Swansea.
  • It will no longer call at Gowerton, Llanelli, Pembrey & Burry Port, Kidwelly, Ferryside and Carmarthen. This is due to a shortage of train drivers.

There are no cancellations expected on Monday as of yet, however Transport for Wales has advised passengers travelling on the Cardiff Central to Rhymney service should be aware that the service will now go from Rhymney at 8pm Mondays to Thursdays and from 6.30pm on Sundays until February 2024.

Passengers are also reminded that due to metro engineering work, the last train from Cardiff Central to Coryton is 7.51pm and the last train from Coryton to Cardiff Central is 8.15pm Mondays to Thursdays until early 2024.

Transport for Wales advises customers to check before they travel using their journey planner website or other sites including Journey Check, Realtime Trains or National Rail Enquiries.

The spokesperson for Transport Wales said: “We try to prepare in advance for any known cancellations and give customers prior notice where possible.

“The issues can be caused where we have one train that covers eight or more different services or does long journeys.  If there is an issue on this train, it can impact a lot of other journeys.

“We do try to only make cancellations if absolutely necessary and where possible, on lines that have limited impact on people.

“We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused by any of this.”