As an ex-Pat Welshman now living in East Anglia, the transformation of the railways in South Wales never ceases to amaze me. What a change from 1 elderly DMU every 2 hours from Merthyr to Cardiff in the 1990s & 2000s!
It’s great to see rail transport in South Wales being upgraded. I don’t live in the area, but good rail connections will be a great boost to the Welsh economy.
The TfW Class 756 Tri-mode FLIRT trains are very nice. This is why Stadler should continue on manufacturing more Bi/Tri-mode, battery and diesel FLIRTs to be used in Southwest England, North of England and of course Scotland. And to replace the older diesel trains that are getting old and most of them to be sent for scrap.
I’d love to see TfW operating dedicated SailRail trains across the North of England from York, via Leeds, Manchester Victoria and Chester to Holyhead, timed to meet ferry check-ins and arrivals, without the need to change trains enroute
Why TFW did order these for the whole valleys lines is beyond me. These are far better than the trams that will plod up and down the Rhondda, Aberdare and Merthyr lines eventually. Plus they actually have toilets
In order to avoid the prohibitive cost of electrifying some of the route (low bridges, narrow embankments, avoiding listed structures etc) it was planned as discontinuous overhead hence the batteries on the bi modes. The tram trains that will eventually run on the Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr lines will be the same bi modal.
As an ex-Pat Welshman now living in East Anglia, the transformation of the railways in South Wales never ceases to amaze me. What a change from 1 elderly DMU every 2 hours from Merthyr to Cardiff in the 1990s & 2000s!
I think Merthyr had pretty consistently, an hourly service during the 90s and half hourly since around 2010.
Brilliant Footage !
There is one of these being stabled this evening at Treherbert in the snow, I’m sure it’s the first one to do so.
It’s great to see rail transport in South Wales being upgraded. I don’t live in the area, but good rail connections will be a great boost to the Welsh economy.
The TfW Class 756 Tri-mode FLIRT trains are very nice. This is why Stadler should continue on manufacturing more Bi/Tri-mode, battery and diesel FLIRTs to be used in Southwest England, North of England and of course Scotland. And to replace the older diesel trains that are getting old and most of them to be sent for scrap.
I’d love to see TfW operating dedicated SailRail trains across the North of England from York, via Leeds, Manchester Victoria and Chester to Holyhead, timed to meet ferry check-ins and arrivals, without the need to change trains enroute
Seen a few of these being tested in March last year taken 18 months to get them to carry passengers!!
Why TFW did order these for the whole valleys lines is beyond me. These are far better than the trams that will plod up and down the Rhondda, Aberdare and Merthyr lines eventually. Plus they actually have toilets
I don’t know how its finally they have only just come out into service a few days ago??
Why were there no wires at the start of the journey, I thought all the journey was electrified?
In order to avoid the prohibitive cost of electrifying some of the route (low bridges, narrow embankments, avoiding listed structures etc) it was planned as discontinuous overhead hence the batteries on the bi modes. The tram trains that will eventually run on the Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr lines will be the same bi modal.