South Wales Metro set to be delayed due to Coronavirus

By Dominic Williams | News Editor

Construction on the £750m South Wales Metro transport network has been delayed due to Coronavirus.

The South Wales Metro will be a transport network where passengers can use the same ticket or travel card across South Wales. Cardiff will act as a focal hub for the operation and the old valleys lines network using rail, tram and bus services.

Metro bosses have promised reduced journey times, greater passenger capacity on trains, more frequent and reliable services and better connections.

However, James Price of Transport for Wales, said ÔÇÿÔÇÖ the South Wales Metro project, set to be completed in 2023, will be delayed for “months not years”. He said work on lines, funded by the Welsh Government and European Union, had already started.

 Recently TFW has become nationalised again only after two-and-a-half years of it being ran by KeolisAmey who won the £5bn Wales and Boarders franchise contract back in October 2018.

┬áSustrans Cymru, a charity that encourages walking and cycling, thinks a good public transport system will still be “essential” after the pandemic.

┬á“People going forward want to have a blended approach,” director Christine Boston said.

┬á“Nobody wants to work from home on their own for evermore and I think we’ve always needed to encourage people where possible to work more local.

┬áWork has already started on the South Wales Metro, with the construction of a new ┬ú100m depot and Metro Control Centre in TaffÔÇÖs Well, Rhondda Cynon. This will serve as a new home to the Metro trains as well as 400 train crew, 35 maintenance staff and 52 Metro Control Centre staff.

Along side this £800million has been invested in new faster, greener trains for the Metro and the Boarders rail service.

South Wales Metro have said: ÔÇÿÔÇÖWeÔÇÖre busy behind the scenes building these new, more comfortable trains that will provide our customers with a modern, effective, turn-up-and-go Metro service.ÔÇÖÔÇÖ