Transport for Wales (train operating company)

  • Transport for Wales Rail
  • Trafnidiaeth Cymru
Overview
Franchise(s)
Main region(s) Wales
Other region(s)
Predecessor Arriva Trains Wales
Parent company
Website www.tfwrail.wales, www.keolisamey.cymru
Technical
Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

Transport for Wales Rail (Welsh: Trafnidiaeth Cymru), or TfW Rail (Welsh: TrC Trenau, literally TfW Trains)[1], known locally as Rails Wales, is the brand name for a train operating company operated by KeolisAmey Wales Cymru,[2] which commenced operating the Wales & Borders franchise on 14 October 2018.

History

In October 2016 Abellio, the incumbent operator Arriva, a Keolis/Amey joint venture and MTR Corporation were shortlisted to bid for the next Wales & Borders franchise.[3][4]

In October 2017, Arriva withdrew from the bidding process, followed in February 2018 by Abellio, after the collapse of its partner Carillion.[5][6][7][8] In May 2018, the franchise was awarded to KeolisAmey Wales. It commenced on 14 October 2018 and runs for 15 years.[9]

Unlike the previous franchise, which was awarded by the Department for Transport, the new franchise was awarded by Transport for Wales.[4]

Improvements

There are plans to improve services between 2018 and 2033 as part of the new franchise:[10][11]

Rolling stock

TfW Rail inherited a fleet of Class 142, 143, 150, 153, 158 and 175 diesel multiple units and Mark 3 carriages from Arriva Trains Wales.

Current fleet

Class Image Type Top Speed Carriages Number Routes Operated Built
mph kph
Locomotive hauled stock
67 Loco 125 200 – 3 Premier Service: Holyhead–Cardiff Central
  • Holyhead (Llandudno)–Manchester Piccadilly

1999–00
Mark 3 Coach 12 1975–88
DVT 3 1988
Diesel multiple units
142 Pacer DMU 75 121 2 15 Valley Lines & Cardiff local routes 1985–87
143 Pacer DMU 75 121 2 15 Valley lines & Cardiff local routes 1985–86
150/2 Sprinter DMU 75 121 2 36
  • Cardiff local routes
  • Heart of Wales/West Wales lines
  • Regional services between South and West Wales, North West and South West England

1986–87
153 Super Sprinter DMU 75 121 1 8
  • Cardiff local routes
  • Heart of Wales/West Wales lines
  • Regional services between South and West Wales, North West and South West England

1987–88
158/0 Express Sprinter DMU 90 140 2 24
  • Birmingham International–Aberystwyth
  • Regional services between South and North Wales, North West and South West England

1990–91
175/0 & 175/1 Coradia DMU 100 161 2 11 Regional services between North West England, North and South Wales 1999–01
3 16

Future fleet

All of TfW Rail's current fleet is due to be replaced by 2023 (with the exception of the class 67 locomotives), with half of the new trains due to be manufactured by CAF at its Llanwern factory.[12]

A total of 77 CAF Civity diesel multiple units are to be built. There will also be a number of cascaded diesel multiple units joining the fleet, with five Class 153s from Great Western Railway (these being on a short term basis only) and twelve Class 170/2s from Greater Anglia.[13]

Also, a total of 35 Stadler FLIRT units have been ordered; 24 tri-modes and eleven diesel-electrics. Thirty-six three-car Stadler Citylink tram-trains have also been ordered.[13]

Five Class 230 units have also been ordered from Vivarail, whilst twelve Mark 4 carriages are to join the fleet from London North Eastern Railway after being refurbished.[13]

Class Image Type Top Speed Carriages Number Routes Operated Built In Service
mph kph
Locomotive hauled stock
Mark 4 Coach 140 225 – 12 Services between North and South Wales[14] 1989–92 2019
Diesel multiple units
153 Super Sprinter[15] DMU 75 121 1 5 Rural routes in West Wales[13] 1987–88 2019
170/2 Turbostar[10] DMU 100 161 2 4 1999–02 2019
3 8
TBC Civity[16] DMU TBC TBC 2 51
  • Cambrian Line (from 2022)
    •
  • Regional services between North, South and West Wales and England (from 2023)[14][10]
 TBC 2021–23
3 26
Diesel-electric multiple units
230 D-Train[15] DEMU 60 97 3 5 Conwy Valley line, Borderlands line, Chester-Crewe[17][18] TBC 2019
TBC FLIRT DEMU TBC TBC 4 11 Services in South East Wales TBC 2022
Bi-mode multiple units
769 Flex BMU TBC TBC 4 5 To be confirmed TBC TBC[nb 1]
Tri-mode multiple units[11]
TBC FLIRT TMU TBC TBC 3 7 Services between Rhymney/Coryton to Penarth/Barry Island/Bridgend via VoG[13] TBC 2023
4 17
Tram-trains
TBC Citylink Tram-train TBC TBC 3 36 Services to Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil[11] TBC 2022–23

Notes

  1. ↑ Class 319/4 units were initially built between 1987 and 1988

References

  1. ↑ "Tweet by Transport for Wales (@transport_wales)". Twitter (in Welsh). Retrieved 2 October 2018. Bydd yr ap TrC Trenau ar gael i’w lawrlwytho maes o lawr ar iOS ac Android.
  2. ↑ "Terms of Use". Transport for Wales. Retrieved 30 September 2018. Keolis Amey Operations/Gweithrediadau Keolis Amey Limited (trading as Transport for Wales Rail Services)
  3. ↑ "Rail operator shortlist revealed" (Press release). Welsh Government. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2018. Four bidders have been selected to progress to the next stage in the procurement process to operate rail services in Wales and the Borders from October 2018 as well take forward key aspects of the next stage of Metro.
  4. 1 2 "Wales & Borders bidders asked to propose Metro options". Railway Gazette International. Sutton: DVV Media Group. 13 October 2016. ISSN 0373-5346. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  5. ↑ "Arriva pulls out of Wales & Borders franchise contest". International Railway Journal. Falmouth: Simmons-Boardman Publishing. 30 October 2017. ISSN 0744-5326.
  6. ↑ "Arriva Trains Wales drops out of Welsh rail franchise bid". BBC News. BBC. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2018. The firm that runs most of Wales' rail network has pulled out of the contest to continue running it from 2018. Arriva has said Arriva Trains Wales was "no longer participating in the Wales and Borders competition", adding it had "not been an easy decision".
  7. ↑ "Abellio ends rail bid after Carillion collapse". BBC News. BBC. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018. One of the three remaining bidders for the next Wales and Borders rail franchise has pulled out. Abellio Rail Cymru (ARC) said it had been unable to overcome the collapse of its partner construction company, Carillion. Its exit from the process leaves just MTR and KeolisAmey bidding to run the franchise, which will operate the South Wales Metro.
  8. ↑ "Abellio pulls out of Wales & Borders bidding". International Railway Journal. Falmouth: Simmons-Boardman Publishing. 23 February 2018. ISSN 0744-5326.
  9. ↑ "Wales' rail and metro franchise to be run by KeolisAmey". BBC News. BBC. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018. A £5bn contract to run Wales' rail service for the next 15 years has been awarded to two European firms, who will run it jointly. France's Keolis and Spanish-owned Amey's bid triumphed over a rival offer from Hong Kong's MTR commuter railways. It will also drive forward the south Wales Metro in Cardiff and the valleys.
  10. 1 2 3 "What this means for Mid and South West Wales". Transport for Wales. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  11. 1 2 3 "What's Happening In South East Wales". Transport for Wales. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  12. ↑ Barry, Sion (4 June 2018). "How Wales' railways will be transformed with new stations, trains and jobs through investment worth billions". WalesOnline. Cardiff: Reach. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "AMs WB Overview Presentation vJP AM" (PDF). KeolisAmey Wales. KeolisAmey Wales. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  14. 1 2 "What's Happening in North Wales". Transport for Wales. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  15. 1 2 "Service Improvements" (PDF). Transport for Wales. Welsh Government. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  16. ↑ "KeolisAmey reveal new-look Wales trains and services". BBC News. BBC. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  17. ↑ "Vivarail Class 230s for Wales". Railways Illustrated. No. 187. Key Publishing. September 2018. p. 13. ISSN 1479-2230.
  18. ↑ "Vivarail announce new order for Wales and Borders". 7 June 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.


Preceded by
Arriva Trains Wales		 Operator of Wales & Borders franchise
2018 - 2033		 Succeeded by
incumbent
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.