Transport for Wales to increase Sunday rail services by 40 per cent

Copyright: Transport for Wales

Transport for Wales has announced a Sunday Railway Revolution, introducing an additional 186 Sunday services to be added to timetables across the entire region – a significant 40 per cent increase. The new services will provide an economic boost throughout the country – providing essential links between cities, towns, and villages – and will contribute to the creation of a truly seven-day railway. 

Chief Executive for Transport for Wales, James Price, said: “This significant increase in Sunday services is an important commitment that we made when we launched our new rail service over a year ago, and follows the successful launch of our May 2019 timetable, where we introduced direct services between Liverpool and Wrexham for the first time in decades. We hope that our customers and potential customers will welcome these services as an important step in building a transport network that the people of Wales can be truly proud of.”

Rail passengers will see the introduction of a Sunday service to Maesteg for the first time; services doubled between Cardiff Central and Swansea; and additional seasonal services will now run all year along the North Wales Coast, as well as increased frequencies on valley lines.

The Cambrian coast will benefit greatly, going from one Sunday service a day in each direction between Machynlleth and Pwllheli, to five in each direction. In order to help boost tourism, new services will also be introduced between Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog, with four services in each direction providing key links to tourist destinations in the area.

Colin Lea, Customer Experience Director for Transport for Wales, said: “We’ve committed to giving customers the service they deserve on a Sunday and are delighted to be able to make these improvements. Some lines which never had a Sunday service before will now be connected, giving greater leisure and economic benefits to so many areas. A huge amount of hard work has gone into developing this timetable for our customers. We’ve seen some fantastic collaboration with our partners in Network Rail in securing access for earlier and later services by moving planned maintenance times, and I’d like to thank all involved for their hard work.”