Interesting video. Only visited the area once (Pontypridd) in 2019, during the twilight of the Pacers. It will be interesting to see the impact the modernisation has both to journeys to Cardiff, but also to the towns along the routes. It should certainly make them more viable and appealing to commute from for those who work in Cardiff. Keep the video updates coming, thanks.
It is very good to see the progress, but I really hope it gets completed and running whilst I am still able to travel back to my old homeland. As a kid in Cardiff, I always thought it strange that there were electric trains in other parts of the country, but not in Wales. If I get a chance, I will try the system out, although the Taff Vale lines are my primary interest, as I used to commute to Treforest Estate by train when my motorbike was out of action (luckily, there wasn't that silly 20mph speed limit in those days).
Oh, but there WAS an electric railway ..... the Swansea & Mumbles, a most significant company in the annals of railway history. In 1804, it carried the world's very first scheduled passenger rail services (horse drawn), then after a half century of steam operation, was sparked up in 1928/9. Closed in 1960, with traffic lost to roads, there are those who believe that those same, now constipated roads mean the time is ripe for it's return.
@@TheHoveHeretic OK- you got me there! Even though the stock looked like trams, I know that Swansea folk called them trains and it was officially a railway. A sad loss, but perhaps to be expected as the final owners were a bus company. There were also a couple of power stations in South Wales that used electric locos- Upper Boat and Cardiff Power Stations.
@@MervynPartin Most definitely "tramish" in appearance .... OK, they were larger than average, high capacity trams, dammit!! One survived at the Middleton Railway (Leeds) but, most unfortunately, was heavily vandalised before being lost in a fire several years ago. Of the many schemes to reopen Welsh railways, traffic conditions favour a revived SMR ..... the condition of the economy, not so much.
Great to see all the investment to this route. Hard to believe now that in the very different transport climate of the early 1980s the borough council proposed to build a road over the route. BR singled most of it in 1981. By the late 80s a complete turnaround had taken place and BR sought to expand services in the area. Cash strapped the best they could do was to build a small passing loop at Ystrad to improve service frequency.
It looking good keep up but there are some spots of the electric lines asnt gone up i hope they going up also why aren't we see tonypandy on the electric line.
I don't know about specific areas but from what I understand the electrification is discontinuous to avoid the engineering works that would be needed in areas where space is restricted. I can see the logic behind the decision but I have reservations about the trains being more complex than they would be otherwise - if the dual mode and especially the triple mode trains end up having a high rate of failure and a high cost to repair then it could have been false economy. Also the metro lines intersect the main line, which is owned and maintained by Network Rail, and apparently TfW would rather keep their electrification work separate from whatever Network Rail is doing (or not doing lol)
@@thesenamesaretaken That is also as I understand it, but it has introduced complexity in areas where it doesn't make sense. Short neutral sections between Network Rail and TfW systems would enable the trains to keep the pantographs raised through Cardiff Central and up the gradient to Queen Street. Neutral sections are used throughout Network Rail anyway, and European nations have managed all right for years (long before the EU). The electricity has to be paid for regardless of TfW or Network Rail supply.
Electric trains in general are far less complex and more reliable than diesel trains. Adding batteries does add a degree of complexity to basic electric trains, however in this case it has allowed a viable business case to be made for the valleys, and the 398s will also be able to operate on-street without needing wires - just like many trams do today. These tram-trains benefit from the technology advances seen in the last decade.
Interesting video.
Only visited the area once (Pontypridd) in 2019, during the twilight of the Pacers.
It will be interesting to see the impact the modernisation has both to journeys to Cardiff, but also to the towns along the routes. It should certainly make them more viable and appealing to commute from for those who work in Cardiff.
Keep the video updates coming, thanks.
It is very good to see the progress, but I really hope it gets completed and running whilst I am still able to travel back to my old homeland. As a kid in Cardiff, I always thought it strange that there were electric trains in other parts of the country, but not in Wales.
If I get a chance, I will try the system out, although the Taff Vale lines are my primary interest, as I used to commute to Treforest Estate by train when my motorbike was out of action (luckily, there wasn't that silly 20mph speed limit in those days).
Oh, but there WAS an electric railway ..... the Swansea & Mumbles, a most significant company in the annals of railway history.
In 1804, it carried the world's very first scheduled passenger rail services (horse drawn), then after a half century of steam operation, was sparked up in 1928/9. Closed in 1960, with traffic lost to roads, there are those who believe that those same, now constipated roads mean the time is ripe for it's return.
@@TheHoveHeretic OK- you got me there! Even though the stock looked like trams, I know that Swansea folk called them trains and it was officially a railway. A sad loss, but perhaps to be expected as the final owners were a bus company.
There were also a couple of power stations in South Wales that used electric locos- Upper Boat and Cardiff Power Stations.
@@MervynPartin Most definitely "tramish" in appearance .... OK, they were larger than average, high capacity trams, dammit!! One survived at the Middleton Railway (Leeds) but, most unfortunately, was heavily vandalised before being lost in a fire several years ago.
Of the many schemes to reopen Welsh railways, traffic conditions favour a revived SMR ..... the condition of the economy, not so much.
Great to see all the investment to this route. Hard to believe now that in the very different transport climate of the early 1980s the borough council proposed to build a road over the route. BR singled most of it in 1981. By the late 80s a complete turnaround had taken place and BR sought to expand services in the area. Cash strapped the best they could do was to build a small passing loop at Ystrad to improve service frequency.
It looking good keep up but there are some spots of the electric lines asnt gone up i hope they going up also why aren't we see tonypandy on the electric line.
I don't know about specific areas but from what I understand the electrification is discontinuous to avoid the engineering works that would be needed in areas where space is restricted. I can see the logic behind the decision but I have reservations about the trains being more complex than they would be otherwise - if the dual mode and especially the triple mode trains end up having a high rate of failure and a high cost to repair then it could have been false economy.
Also the metro lines intersect the main line, which is owned and maintained by Network Rail, and apparently TfW would rather keep their electrification work separate from whatever Network Rail is doing (or not doing lol)
@@thesenamesaretaken That is also as I understand it, but it has introduced complexity in areas where it doesn't make sense. Short neutral sections between Network Rail and TfW systems would enable the trains to keep the pantographs raised through Cardiff Central and up the gradient to Queen Street. Neutral sections are used throughout Network Rail anyway, and European nations have managed all right for years (long before the EU). The electricity has to be paid for regardless of TfW or Network Rail supply.
Electric trains in general are far less complex and more reliable than diesel trains. Adding batteries does add a degree of complexity to basic electric trains, however in this case it has allowed a viable business case to be made for the valleys, and the 398s will also be able to operate on-street without needing wires - just like many trams do today. These tram-trains benefit from the technology advances seen in the last decade.
Big shake up of the valley lines network from may 2024. All merthyr and aberdare services running loops around Cardiff via either landaf or fairwater