Rail strike to impact number of routes across Wales on Saturday

Rail passengers are being advised not to travel unless their journey is essential on a number of routes across Wales this Saturday (August 13) due to the impact of industrial action.

Although Transport for Wales (TfW) is not involved in the industrial action by members of the train driver’s union ASLEF, some of its services are likely to be extremely busy as a result of the severely-reduced timetable put in place by other operators.

TfW services in South Wales between Carmarthen and Newport are expected to be very busy because there are no Great Western Railway (GWR) services running in Wales. TfW will be running additional services along this route in order to provide extra capacity.

Services between Cardiff and Lydney, Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton* and services along the North Wales Coast are expected to be very busy with no CrossCountry, West Midlands Trains and Avanti West Coast services operating at all on Saturday 13 August.

TfW is advising customers not to travel unless their journey is essential between:

• Carmarthen and Newport
• Cardiff and Lydney
• Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton
• North Wales Coast

Travel to a number of events taking place on Saturday 13 August could be impacted by the industrial action and all customers are strongly advised to check for the latest travel information on the TfW website, mobile app or social media channels before making their journey.

This includes:

• FIM Speedway GP at the Principality Stadium (3pm), Cardiff.
• Welsh Fire versus Birmingham Phoenix (3pm) Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.
• Cardiff City versus Birmingham City (12.30pm) at the Cardiff City Stadium.
• Pete Tong and the Symphony Orchestra (4pm), Stadiwm Zip World, Colwyn Bay.

Extra staff will be deployed at stations to provide customer services.

*Due to the closure of Birmingham New Street station on Saturday 13 Aug, TfW services will start/end at Wolverhampton. Ticket acceptance has been accepted with West Midlands Metro for passengers who need to travel between Birmingham new Street and Wolverhampton.