Great Western Railway has announced that it will be increasing the frequency of shuttle services between Cardiff Central and Newport ahead of Wales’ first home Six Nations match against Scotland.
The rail operating company, which operates the South Wales to London rail franchise, will run two eight-car Electrostars between Cardiff and Newport.
The electric train service will run every 30 minutes as part of plans to disperse crowds after the Principality Stadium fixture on Saturday 12 February.
The additional carriages will provide more than 2,600 seats, making up 15% of GWR's 20,000 post-match seating capacity.
Train services are still expected to be busy and a queuing system will be in operation at the station after the game.
Customers are advised to be prepared to stagger their journey time and to keep checking social media for the latest information on queuing times.
In a change to previous years, fans travelling to Newport after the game will be asked to queue on the square in front of Cardiff Central station, rather than from Riverside Car Park.
The Electrostar trains first ran in Wales in December last year but this will be the first time they will be used for a big ticket event.
The trains run from London to Cardiff on the electric line but have to switch to diesel mode to continue the journey to Swansea.
For rugby fans travelling to Cardiff from West Wales, GWR said it will be running pre-match additional services from Swansea at 09:33 as well as 11:01, 12:09 and 13:05 from Port Talbot Parkway.
The rail operator added that a 16:15 to Port Talbot Parkway and a 17:27 to Swansea are its additional services post-match.
In total the rail operator will run 38 services to Newport, Swansea, Bristol and London starting from 16:11 with the final train to Swansea departing to Swansea at 22:49.
Customer service and operations director Richard Rowland said: “It has been a long-held ambition to use our 387s for ‘big-ticket’ events in Cardiff and we are excited to see these more sustainable, electric trains in use for the first time for the Wales-Scotland fixture.”
He added: “We have worked closely with our colleagues at Network Rail to run electric-only trains to and from Cardiff and our 387s have been running successfully since their introduction in the December timetable.
“We’ll be running these as half-hourly shuttle services to Newport, helping to free up more space on our London and Bristol services.”
Network Rail’s Wales and border route director, Bill Kelly, said: “It’s fantastic to see passengers continuing to benefit from our work to electrify the railway through the Severn Tunnel into South Wales.”
He added: “GWR’s additional, all-electric services will be a big boost for rail passengers on large-scale event days in Cardiff, with more options for those travelling to and from the city.
Transport for Wales’ planning and performance director, Colin Lea, said: “We will be running additional services to and from Cardiff for Wales’ first home game of the Six Nations on Saturday.”
“With 75,000 people expected at the stadium, services will be very busy, so we kindly ask that people plan ahead, check the latest timetables and leave plenty of time for their journey.”
