Metro construction to cause months of disruption

A look inside one of 36 new tram-trains which will run as part of the South Wales Metro

Rail passengers are being advised to check before they travel as work gets under way on the latest stage of the South Wales Metro.

Cardiff's Queen Street, Wales' fourth busiest station, will be closed on Sunday for the beginning of the engineering works.

A number of rail services will be affected by the disruption, which is expected to continue on-and-off until November.

Transport for Wales (TfW) said the South Wales Metro would be a "modern, efficient and sustainable" way of travelling.

"Transformation works will continue across the valley lines in preparation for the South Wales Metro and its connecting lines," a TfW spokesperson said.

"TfW is advising all customers to check before they travel as rail replacement buses will be in operation."

What is the South Wales Metro?

Some of the new tram-trains have been rolled out already

The South Wales Metro is an integrated public transport service involving trains, trams and buses, which is currently being constructed in south-east Wales.

The work is particularly focused on what rail bosses call the core Valley lines – the lines that connect Cardiff with Aberdare, Coryton, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhymney and Treherbert.

All of these lines are being electrified, with the eventual aim of allowing 36 new tram-trains to run on the 105-mile (170km) network.

The new Transport for Wales map for the South Wales Metro

Some of the new trains have been rolled out already, but the rest are expected to be in service by the end of 2024.

In addition, 40 stations are being renovated.

The hope is that, within two years, passengers will be able to forget about traditional timetables because services will be so frequent - with at least one every 15 minutes.

When will Queen Street station be closed?

Cardiff's Queen Street station will be closed all day on Sunday 25 August to allow metro work to get under way.

A TfW spokesperson said it would be " the first of several engineering works affecting services through Cardiff Queen Street".

The station is scheduled to close again for further works between Sunday 27 October and Friday 1 November.

Which train services will be disrupted?

Sunday 25 August

Buses will replace trains on services between Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Bay.

Buses will also replace trains from Cardiff Central to Radyr and Cardiff Central to Caerphilly and Rhymney.

Rail services for Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr will start and finish at Cardiff Central and travel via Ninian Park.

Trains to and from Merthyr and Treherbert will be diverted via the City Line and run non-stop between Radyr and Cardiff Central.

Saturday 31 August and Sunday 1 September

Engineering works on the Rhymney and Coryton lines will close the line to trains on both days throughout this weekend.

A rail replacement service will be in operation between Cardiff Central and Rhymney.

Further engineering works are planned across a number of lines at the end of September and throughout October and early November.

When will the South Wales Metro be finished?

TfW say the tram-trains will create a "turn-up-and-go" public transport system in south-east Wales

The first phase of the South Wales Metro is due to be completed by the start of 2026.

In June, its delivery moved a step closer as TfW began to provide more frequent services for passengers on the Merthyr, Aberdare, Treherbert, Rhymney, City and Coryton lines.

By the point of completion, people living near to stations on the above lines should have access to four trains per hour to Cardiff.

It means Pontypridd would have, on average, a train every three minutes to the Welsh capital.

"When that kind of service begins is the time people go 'wow, this is a completely different kind of network, a London Underground type service'," Prof Mark Barry, who has been involved with the scheme since 2011, told the BBC earlier this year.