A woman claims she has spent more time commuting than working at her 39-hours- a week office job due to the disruption on Transport for Wales trains. Hannah Bush travels from Aberdare to Cardiff five days a week and says she can no longer cope with her train journey being delayed or cancelled as work is continued on the construction of the new South Wales Metro.
Although she says the company she works for has been supportive when she has been held up, Hannah says the complicated journey times make her day more stressful and believes that Transport for Wales are not doing enough to improve the service, which has left her feeling helpless. She said she is having to leave her house at 5.50am in the morning and often gets home at 7pm due to the delays.
According to Trainline, there are only rail replacement buses running between Monday-Friday until Monday, January 30. The typical journey takes 1 hour, 49 minutes and has two changes, one being in Pontypridd and the other in Radyr. Normally, the train journey should only take one hour and two minutes, with no changes. Hannah said: "The rail replacement is very disruptive and the bus is always extremely busy.
Read more: Busy Cardiff and Valleys rail lines to close for weeks for major work
Trains between Cardiff and Rhymney will also be disrupted until the end of 2023, Transport for Wales confirmed just a few days ago. The service will be affected on five evenings every week for the rest of the year as work continues on the construction of the new South Wales Metro.
"It is what it is with the rail strikes, but these are the metro works. But even when there's no metro works the service is horrendous so something really needs to be done to improve these routes from Aberdare and other parts of the valleys."
Hannah has also noticed that the issues have become a problem for other people who use the route. She said: “A young girl was on the bus crying it was her second week in her new job and she had already been late three times due to the TFW service. There were a number of people who were losing an hour's pay.”
Taking note of how different routes have affected her week, Hannah recorded how some journey times have impacted her over the last few days.
Tuesday, January 11
“This morning was a lot better, two buses provided so nobody was left at the bus stops, however I still have to leave the house at 5:30am to get to the 5:51am train from Aberdare in order to get to work at a reasonable time. This evening, a totally different story.
“Left work early at 4:20pm, and the 4:35pm bus was full getting to Queen street. I had to wait for them to send another bus, which arrived 10 mins later.
“We all just about managed to get on, crammed in, like sardines. I now have to wait 30 mins for the connecting train so not getting to Aberdare until 6:40pm.”
Friday, January 13
"Cancelled trains this morning, and lo and behold another cancelled train this evening, the 4:45pm was cancelled with 25 minutes to go to departure. I have actually spent more time travelling than at work this week, and I work 39 hours.
Tuesday, January 17
“Today I have had to book a holiday as I could not face another day of the service as I got in at 7:30pm after leaving the office at 5:10pm. I left earlier and thank goodness I did. I got to Radyr at 5:40pm and got on a bus which was crammed in.
"Apparently only 14 should be standing but there was a lot more. I was one of them. The bus left early before the 6pm time it was supposed to leave.
“My colleague was on the train behind me, and because we left early she had to wait until the 7pm bus. She arrived at Radyr at 5:54pm, so six minutes before the 6pm bus.
“We got to Treforest and what an absolute joke. There was around 40-55 people standing waiting and then tried to push their way onto the bus.”
What is going on?
A Transport for Wales spokesperson said: “As part of our once-in-a-generation investment to deliver the South Wales Metro we are carrying out a significant amount of work to upgrade our infrastructure and stations throughout South Wales, ready for our brand-new tram trains and more frequent, faster, greener services. To ensure the safety of workers we are sometimes required to temporarily close sections of routes while this work is taking place. Temporary closures allow our teams to work day and night. Without these closures we are reliant on shorter night-time closures, which would result in our new tram trains entering into passenger service much later.
“Where possible we are scheduling the transformation work to take place during less busy times to minimise disruption and we offer connections between rail services and bus services. We understand disruption can be frustrating for passengers and we would like to thank them for their patience and understanding while this work is taking place.
"We are committed to working with our communities to minimise the impact of our work and welcome feedback through our dedicated community engagement team. Once completed the Metro will transform the way people travel in South Wales through an integrated network of bus, rail and active travel that will improve connectivity and make sustainable travel easier.”
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