With a length of around 55 miles, this route would include the following lines; Aberdare - Cardiff Central via the City Line Merthyr Tydfil - Cardiff Central via Cardiff Queen St Treherbert - Pontypridd Cardiff Queen St - Coryton and Heath High Level Cardiff Queen St - Cardiff Bay Cardiff Central - Penarth and Cogan The Aberdare and Merthyr routes share track between Abercynon and Radyr, with the Treherbert services also sharing the line between Pontypridd and Cardiff Central (via Queen St). Timetable information With the recently introduced Valley Lines timetable revamp in preparation for the South Wales Metro, services are now even more frequent than they were before. Only services which mainly operate the included stock (TfW Class 150/2, TfW Class 153/3 and 153/9) with these services having the following frequency Aberdare - Merthyr via Cardiff Central: 30 min frequency Treherbert - Cardiff Central: 30 mins frequency Pontypridd - Cardiff Bay: 30 mins frequency Penarth - Coryton: 30 mins frequency Penarth - Caerphilly (Heath High Level): 30 mins frequency Rhymney (Heath High Level) - Bridgend (Cogan): 60 mins frequency The Pontypridd - Cardiff Bay services do one round trip from Cardiff Bay to Queen St and back before heading up to Pontypridd again. This is to provide the bay line with a roughly 15 minute service frequency. Due to PRM Disability regulations, the Class 153/3 are not allowed to operate on their own due to lacking a disability friendly toilet so most Class 153 powered TfW services consist of a 153/3 paired with a 153/9 as well as 150s on rare occasions. At Cardiff Central, there are some AI services that will be layered in, these are as follows; GWR services to/from Portsmouth Harbour as well as ECS moves for these services around the Cardiff area. 1 train per hour, usually a single Class 166. Requires Great Western Express DLC for these services to appear DB Schenker freight services to/from Margam to destinations such as Round Oak, Corby, Immingham and Hartlepool, using BBA wagons from Tees Valley DLC. Any Class 66 variant within TSW4 will work on these services. The Robeston - Westerleigh and Theale workings will also be represented in the form of 2x 66s on around 20-25 TEA wagons from the Cargo Line Volume 2 DLC. These services are booked to pass through Cardiff Central at 0214 (Robeston - Westerleigh), 0317 (Robeston - Theale), 0905 (Robeston - Westerleigh), 1354 (Robeston - Westerleigh), 1715 (Theale - Robeston) and 2120 (Westerleigh - Robeston). There will also be an RHTT working along each of the Valley Lines which will require the RHTT DLC to layer into the timetable. Included Rolling Stock Class 150/2 in Transport for Wales livery An ever-present form of motive power on the Valley Lines since their introduction to service in 1987, the Class 150/2s are only now slowly beginning to be phased out of service after 37 years of work in South Wales. An improvement on the Class 142/143s that came before them, they still suffer from incredibly squeaky brakes (as do most BR Sprinter designs) but have recently been refurbished to include a PRM compliant toilet on board. They have a top speed of 75mph. Class 153/3 and 153/9 in Transport for Wales livery These single car units were converted from 2 car Class 155s during 1991, with them being deployed to replace the aging Class 121s as well as other first generation DMUs around the UK. They are recent introductions to the Valley Lines in comparison to the Class 150s, with them only becoming regulars to lines outside of the Cardiff Bay branch in around 2019. These units also have a top speed of 75mph.
Excellent suggestion, and incredible detail. I wouldn’t be able to suggest this and do it justice like you’ve done. Wales has absolutely got to appear in the game now, and bar the North Wales Coast line, this is the only other real candidate. Love the idea of a 153. Didn’t know there was a compliant 153/9 version! Could there be a loco hauled 67 + MK3’s + DVT add-on that fits the route too?
