Trains to get back on track in after disruption, TfW says

Trains were damaged after Storm Callum brought flooding

Passengers who have faced disruption after an "unprecedented" number of trains were damaged have been told that things will start to improve next week.

The effect of storms on ageing trains meant a third of the fleet of 127 on Wales' rail network were put out of action earlier this month.

But after a "mammoth" push to repair them, operator Transport for Wales said services are set to return to normal.

Chief executive James Price said it was looking into what had gone wrong.

Transport for Wales (TfW)'s contractor Keolis-Amey took over the Wales and Borders service from Arriva in October but within weeks it was faced with cancelling a number of services.

Transport For Wales took over the running of the Wales and Border franchise from Arriva

But on Friday it said "the picture is expected to improve over the next two weeks, starting on Monday when services on the Wrexham-Bidston line will be restored to normal.

"After unprecedented levels of damage to trains caused disruption across the network, Transport for Wales engineers have worked almost 1,000 hours of overtime over the last four weeks to return damaged trains to the tracks," it said in a statement.

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"The number of available trains in the fleet has increased by more than 10% in the last four days after the mammoth engineering push, and the number of trains reporting new faults is starting to fall.

"While the current stormy conditions are still creating difficult conditions for rail services, the picture is still expected to improve."

'Prevent it happening again'

Network Rail and Transport for Wales have launched a joint investigation to understand why this autumn's weather caused so much damage to the fleet.

TfW said an £800m investment in new trains meant services would be better able to cope with autumn weather conditions. The first trains will be introduced in north Wales as early as next year.

Mr Price said: "Our main focus now is on understanding what went wrong, and doing everything in our power to prevent it happening again."

On Thursday, he said the fleet had not been maintained "quite as well as it could have been" before the new franchise started.

But former operator Arriva defended itself against criticism of its maintenance record on Friday, saying it it went "above and beyond" in its contractual obligations.