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Half-hourly Vale trains delayed again

Wednesday, 14 January 2026 18:42

By Gareth Joy X @lookoutwales2

TfW

A pledge to introduce extra rail services on the Vale of Glamorgan Line has been delayed again.

The Welsh Government has told Bro Radio News that plans to introduce twice-hourly trains at peak times between Cardiff and Bridgend will be introduced in 2027.

But the pledge has already been delayed several times in the past few years - with the Welsh Conservatives accusing Senedd ministers of neglect.

During First Minister's Questions on Tuesday, South Wales Central MS Andrew RT Davies challenged Eluned Morgan on when the expansion of rail services would be introduced.

The FM replied: "When it comes to a situation of reliability, 90 per cent of Transport for Wales services on the core Valley lines arrived within three minutes of their scheduled time. That makes us in the core Valley area the best performing rail network for punctuality in Great Britain."

Mr RT Davies, a former Welsh Conservative leader, told Bro Radio's 'The Vale This Week': "There are huge frustrations because the Vale Council, in their LDP planning process, has a huge number of new housing developments scheduled along the coast of the Vale of Glamorgan."

"Obviously, it is served by the Bridgend to Cardiff Vale line and it is desperate that extra capacity is installed with extra trains to take passengers into and out of Cardiff, Bridgend and the Vale itself."

He added: "Here we are in 2026 and the First Minister of Wales...can't give a commitment when that two trains an hour target is going to be hit."

"This is bitterly disappointing and shows that Labour really don't care about the Vale of Glamorgan."

The Welsh Conservatives said the last UK Government had provided funding for the South Wales Metro scheme through its Cardiff City Deal.

When asked in the Senedd if the FM would "pay a full compliment" to the former Tory government, Eluned Morgan replied: "No, I won't. I'm not going to pay a compliment to them because actually they have short-changed Wales over 14 years."

"One per cent...of rail funding we get in Wales. It's not good enough. It's not acceptable. It's not acceptable from the Tory UK Government, and it is not acceptable, frankly, from the Labour Government either."

"We will keep pushing to make sure we get our fair share of funding when it comes to rail in Wales. What we have seen is a 90 per cent improvement."

In a statement to Bro Radio News, transport secretary Ken Skates said: "We are committed to improving services on the Vale of Glamorgan Line."

"Transport for Wales will increase the frequency of services between Cardiff and Bridgend to two trains per hour during peak times in 2027 following the introduction of brand-new trains on this line."

A Welsh Government spokesperson added: "We’re investing £800 million in brand-new trains as part of our £1bn upgrade of the Core Valleys Line infrastructure to deliver the South Wales Metro."

Last month, Transport for Wales told us that new tri-mode trains - which are already being used on the Penarth line - will be introduced onto the Vale of Glamorgan Line during 2026.

Kelsey Barcinella, a stakeholder manager at TFW told 'The Vale This Week': "Next year, we'll be rolling out some of our new trains on the Merthyr, Aberdare and Treherbert lines, which then frees up the 756 trains onto other parts of the network such as the Rhymney line and the Vale of Glamorgan."

"You'll start to see more services using our newer trains, and then, from our next timetable changes through next year, we'll start to see the uplift in frequencies and realiability across the network."

You can hear a full interview with Andrew RT Davies on The Vale This Week, available as a podcast or via our Listen Again page.

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