Train services in Wales are expected to be "busy" during royal events in Wales this week. Transport for Wales confirmed that train services into Cardiff will be busier than usual due to the visit of King Charles III to Llandaff Cathedral on Friday (September 16).
This will be Charles III first visit to Wales as King, where he is set to travel to Cardiff for a service to remember his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, as well as visiting the Senedd and Cardiff Castle. Llandaff Cathedral will be the King and Queen Consort's first post of call on their visit to attend a remembrance service, you can read all about the preparations ahead of the royal visit here.
As a result, Transport for Wales has recommended that passengers wanting to travel to Llandaff from Cardiff Central should use a local bus service rather than travel to the two nearest train stations to the cathedral - Waun-gron Park and Fairwater.
On top of this, the funeral date for Her Majesty on Monday (September 19) has been confirmed as an official bank holiday. According to Transport for Wales, this will mean that peak time ticket restrictions will not apply. But it is expected that train services into London will be "exceptionally busy" during the official mourning period and passengers are told to check their journey plans before they travel.
In a statement released on their website, a spokesperson for the Welsh train service said: "The funeral date for Her Majesty on 19th September has been confirmed as an official Bank Holiday, peak time ticket restrictions will therefore not apply. However, on all other weekdays during the mourning period, we will be running our normal timetable. This will allow workers, including key workers to get to their place of work.
"It's expected that train services into London will be exceptionally busy during the official mourning period as people make their way to London to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth. Whilst we don't run direct services into London we're expecting our connecting services to be busier than usual during this period. Please check your journey plans before you travel.
"On Friday 16 September, train services into Cardiff are expected to be busy due to the visit of King Charles III to Llandaff Cathedral. The nearest train stations to Llandaff Cathedral are Waun-gron Park and Fairwater. However, it is recommended that passengers wanting to travel to Llandaff from Cardiff Central to use a local bus service visit traveline.cymru for local bus timetables."
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Great Western Railway has said that in preparation to the busy timetables during the late Queen's funeral in London, they will be "mimicking what [they] did for the Royal Wedding". The planned engineering work between Swindon and Bridgend has been postponed, the train service has confirmed, allowing trains between south Wales and London to operate as planned.
A queuing system will also take place at Slough, with an additional walk-way to help people better access the platform towards Windsor. They have also added more carriages on the Windsor branch line and will do so again on Monday (September 19). Additional services and station stops at Slough will operate - predominantly on the Monday, but there will also be some additional trains between Paddington and Reading from Wednesday (September 14) this week.
The spokesperson added however that services and stations are likely to be "extremely busy" over the next nine days. "Many people from across the country will wish to travel in the coming days to pay their respects to Her Majesty the Queen and the rail industry is working hard to enable people to do that," they said. "However, we would urge people to check service details before travelling and to be prepared for very busy trains and stations.
"The rail industry is doing all it can to ensure people can travel to pay their respects during the period of mourning. Where possible – we will be running some extra services and customers should check journey planners for the most up to date information.
"With trains at Slough station for the connecting service to Windsor & Eton Central expected to be in very high demand, and a queuing system in place, those travelling are being advised to plan their journey and to travel early.
"As many carriages and services that can operate on the branch line between Slough and Windsor will do so, however they are expected to be very busy. An additional walk-way has also been installed at Slough, to help improve access to the platform for trains towards Windsor.
"Extra trains will also operate in the local area from Wednesday, and we will be increasing the number of trains calling at Slough Station for connections into Windsor. On the day of the funeral additional services, particularly in the very early morning and late evening, will be laid on for those travelling from further afield."
GWR has also advised that those looking to travel on Monday to use South Western Railway services from London Waterloo to Windsor and Eton Riverside if you are travelling from the London area. Customers travelling from the west, south Wales and Cotswolds should change at Reading for services to Slough.
They train service has also noted that It will not be possible to view both the funeral in London and travel to Windsor, where the Queen will be laid to rest. People should plan to view one or the other and allow plenty of time to travel to either location.
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