Today to aid me with my challenge of travelling all of Britain’s railway lines, I continued with ticking off some more of the TfW Valley Lines. If you haven’t read my previous blog about my trip to tick off the Ebbw Vale and Maesteg lines I took two weeks earlier, then here’s the link to that: TfW Valley Line Trip. So, today I was planning on doing a few more lines around Cardiff. We were going to buy a Explore the Capital Ranger ticket which gives you unlimited off-peak travel in a designated area (click here to see the map). It is a really good value ticket as for my mum and me it was only going to cost £6.90 for a whole day of travel. I thought that was really good value.
We arrived at Gloucester station and attempted to buy the tickets we needed. First, we needed to buy a ticket to Cardiff Central as that’s where the ranger starts. We tried to buy the ticket to Cardiff at the ticket machine and the first one we went to had an issue with the touch screen display so we went to the other one and that one worked fine. Sadly, you can’t buy rovers and rangers from ticket machines, not really sure why. So, we headed over to the ticket office, the lovely ticket office clerk tried to find the ticket on the system. I wasn’t expecting to be able to buy it at a non-TfW station, so was pleasantly surprised when she found it. Weirdly, you can’t use a railcard with the ticket but it’s so cheap it didn’t really matter but that did seem to confuse the lady.
We started off the day by catching the same train as I took two weeks ago – 2L49 the 08:58 Cheltenham Spa to Maesteg, I caught it from Gloucester and took it as far as Cardiff Central. It was a pretty similar journey to two weeks ago but it was quieter (Gloucester station was pretty much deserted) which really helped my anxiety. I hate busy places so this was a relief. The train was pretty empty too, my mum and I sat in the declassified first-class area. The journey was pretty similar to last time so if you want to read about the journey from Gloucester to Cardiff in more detail take a look at the previous blog post. As we came into Lydney it looked quite busy, like it was the last time I took the journey. It always surprises me how busy the stations are that serve the smallish towns on the way towards Cardiff. The train definitely filled up but luckily we had the declassified first-class area to ourselves for the whole journey.
Before I knew it, we were on approach to Cardiff Central. I had a quick look on my phone and the next train we planned to get (2P59 the 10:42 from Cardiff Central to Penarth) was on time. It showed as being worked by one of TfW’s new class 769 trains so I was looking forward to trying one of them out. We alighted the train and I took a quick few photos at the station and then had a look at the departure board. I saw a service to Penarth on the board but didn’t realise that it was the earlier one. It said it was departing from platform 7 so we headed over there; our train arrived on platform 4 so it wasn’t that far away. As we started walking down the stairs to the underpass a tamper train came through on the “fast” line, so that was a nice treat. I wasn’t in a rush as I thought we had another half an hour, so we took a leisurely walk over to platform 7. I thought I could do some train spotting for 30 minutes. When we walked up to the platform there was a train in saying it was going to Penarth. That surprised me! I had a swift look at my phone to check it was actually going to Penarth and it was! The train (2P09 the 10:13 from Cardiff Central to Penarth) was departing in 2 minutes so I had to be quick and think about if I wanted to catch this train or wait for the new class 769. This particular class 150 was a refurbished set; so, because I had never travelled on one before I decided to get on this train. This would now mean I would be ahead of my planned schedule.
Although I like to have plans, I am getting better at deviating from them; I used to struggle with any last-minute changes and I still do with anything other than trains. I think that’s because trains tend to be my safe space and I can properly relax on them, especially when they are quiet like today.
Just to confirm this train was definitely going to Penarth, because of my anxiety I needed to check everything multiple times, my mum asked our guard who was very friendly and he told us this train was definitely going to Penarth. So, with that we hopped on board and before we had even sat down, we were on the move. I have done the line to Barry Island before so the new bit was going to be between Grangetown and Penarth. I love going this way out of Cardiff Central as you get some brilliant views of Cardiff Canton Depot. It looks like a fascinating place and you can really see the changing face of the rolling stock in Wales. After watching Cardiff Canton depot pass by us, my mum and I tried to figure out what the rest of the day would look like as our original plan would no longer maximise the time we had as we were about an hour ahead of schedule. We managed to sort it all out and we were all good to continue with our new plan. By this time, we had left Grangetown and were on the Penarth branch which has one stop, Dingle Road. We were now approaching Penarth so we got up from our seats, I checked the area around us to make sure I hadn’t left anything behind and headed towards the door.
I sometimes get a bit “obsessive” about checking I haven’t left anything behind, I have to check a few times and then even sometimes get my mum to reassure me I haven’t left anything. Occasionally, I get in a real state of panic in my head about having left something on the train after I have got off the train. I then have to check my bag “hundreds” of times to make sure I haven’t left something. I’m not sure what I would do if I had as it has only happened once and that time I got myself into a real state about it. Having said all that, I am quite careful when it comes to putting stuff back into my bag in the right place so it would be most unusual for me to leave something.
We got off the train at Penarth, I took a photo of the train and a few photos of the station. I liked the look of Penarth, it looked like it had a nice little town centre. Our train had arrived in at 10:25 and it was due back out at 10:33 so I didn’t want to walk too far away from the station as we only had 8 minutes. I would much prefer to sit back on the train and wait rather than go for a walk for the fear of missing the train back. The train (150240) was now ready to work 2R10 the 10:33 from Penarth to Rhymney, we were taking it as far as Cardiff Queen Street.
So, we got back onboard the train and awaited the departure time. A few children with their mum came onto the platform. They started waving at the train as it departed and the driver gave a quick toot of the horn, I would have loved that when I was younger. We repeated the journey except this time I could look out of the window instead of planning. As you leave Dingle Road you get a great view of Cardiff Bay. Lots of boats and high-rise flats, I fancied living in one of the flats as you could get a great view of the railway line and the boats. Arriving into Cardiff Central most of the passengers got up out of their seats ready to leave the train. Mind you, the train was pretty quiet so we are only talking about a handful of passengers. After leaving Cardiff Central we headed over the flyover to cross over the mainline – which leads towards Bristol and Gloucester. There is a speed limit of 15mph over the bridge so you get a good look down as you are going so slowly. The next stop in a few moments time was Cardiff Queen Street, I have never been to Queen Street so this was again new line for me. I couldn’t believe that I had never been to Queen Street before; I have been to Cardiff so many times but just never really explored it on the trains before!
We left the train at Queen Street so I could have a look at the station plus the rover only covers you to Llanishen so you couldn’t go all the way to Rhymney. That’s one for another day. When we arrived at the station, we saw a class 153 going to Cardiff Bay, we thought about catching it but found out we would potentially miss our next connection to Coryton. Therefore, we stuck to the plan so our next train was in about 25 minutes. We had enough time to go and grab a coffee for my mum. We tried to exit the station through the gateline but the ranger ticket didn’t work in the barriers so we had to get a member of gate line staff to come over. They were lovely and let us straight through after looking at our tickets. Exiting the station, we walked down to the end of the road and found we were in the centre of Cardiff, it was quite surprising as it felt like we were on the outskirts of the city. We spotted the shop opposite the station that had a Costa Coffee Express Machine. We walked in and tried to dispense a Latte. It didn’t work, it said on the screen it had failed! The helpful member of staff came over and assisted us. We managed to get it to work and then left the shop heading back across the road to the station.
Once again, our tickets didn’t work in the barriers so the member of staff let us through to the platform side. After checking the departure board, we headed up to platform 4. Our next train was 2C10 the 11:17 from Radyr to Coryton. We were going to ride it all the way from Queen Street to Coryton. The train pulled into the station and I saw it was formed of an un-refurbished class 150 (150264), still a pleasant train to travel on. It had pretty much all of the same features as the refurbished one’s bar the moquette (fabric) on the seat. I was just happy to be on a train. We left Cardiff Queen Street right on time and headed for Coryton, stopping at all stations. This was even more new route for me. The first stop was Heath Low Level where a few friendly train enthusiasts boarded. Other than that, not many other passengers boarded on the way to Coryton so we were left with a pretty deserted train. It was an enjoyable line, not quite as picturesque as the Ebbw Vale branch I did two weeks before – but I guess Ebbw Vale is more northerly meaning it is further away from the city.
Now we were arriving into Coryton so we got up and waited for the doors to be released. The train had a long turnaround time at Coryton, about 20 minutes. This is quite unusual for the trains on the Valley Lines, given that when I went to Ebbw Vale it was only a 4-minute turnaround! Leaving the train, we saw a set of stairs which led to what looked like a main road. So, we climbed up the steps and ended up on street level. It was a busy road so we just stayed on our side of the pavement. I got a lovely photo looking down on the class 150 from the bridge. The surroundings of the station were quite strange as the station itself was quite “leafy” but then you had a busy main road and a housing estate to each side. Some train enthusiasts were waiting on the platform and their dad was chatting to our guard. I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation and he was asking her where they could find class 769’s and class 153’s on the Valley Lines. She was very helpful and explained to them where they could possibly find them. As the dad wandered back over, my mum started chatting to him and explained about my challenge and that I was a good person to ask about where to find particular rolling stock.
I struggle to start conversations so I would have struggled to start talking to him so I was very grateful my mum did it for me. I do tend to find it easier to talk about trains as it seems to be an easy subject for me.
I started chatting to the dad and then the young train enthusiasts came over and I told them about RealTimeTrains. This website shows timetable data for the whole of the UK railway network and is starting to show unit allocations (train numbers) for certain train companies. Recently TfW (Transport for Wales) started showing allocations so you can see what class of train is on which service. I told them you can find class 769’s on the Penarth to Bargoed line and the class 153’s on the Cardiff Bay shuttles. They were very grateful and were going to try and hunt them down.
It was now time to get back onboard the same train which was now working 2V11 the 11:57 from Coryton to Radyr via The City Line. We were going to ride it all the way to Radyr. We boarded the front coach but it was quite warm so we walked down to the rear coach and sat in the same seats as before. We headed back towards Queen Street where the group of train enthusiasts left the service. Continuing on towards Cardiff Central, we went over the flyover once again and then a few minutes later we arrived back into Cardiff Central. Sitting at Cardiff Central the guard made a very informative announcement telling us about the Valley Line Metro upgrade, that the Aberdare line was closed and that there was a bus replacement. Very helpful for the passengers with onward journeys. She then came and found us onboard the train to let me know that there was a class 153 in the station and that if I wanted to take a quick photo I could. It was really very nice of her to tell me. I had already seen a few class 153’s earlier in the day so didn’t need a photo but still very admirable that she took the time at the end of her shift to come and tell me. Very impressed!
At 12:23 we left Cardiff Central bang on time and continued on with our journey towards Radyr. We went past Cardiff Canton Depot once again, this time going round the back of it so getting an even better view. We saw a Direct Rail Services (DRS) class 37 with some Mk2 coaches which had arrived from Motherwell TMD a few days previous. Haven’t seen a formation like that for years. The next stop was Ninian Park. It is quite a slow line up to Ninian Park but it quickly speeds up after the station. We ran parallel to the mainline for a few minutes then crossed underneath it. There are three more stations on the line to Radyr. After about 15 minutes we arrived into Radyr platform 3. We alighted the train, took a quick photo and then headed up the footbridge to exit the station. There was a ticket office and that was about it. So, I took a few more photos of the station and then headed back over the footbridge to platform 1 and waited for 2B62 the 12:59 train from Pontypridd to Cardiff Bay. We were going to ride it from Radyr to Cardiff Bay. A few more trains arrived and departed so I took some photos of those and then our train pulled in. While I was watching the trains, I noticed a very tight curve on the southbound line (towards Cardiff), it was probably one of the tightest curves I have seen on an approach to a station!
We boarded the train and took a seat, luckily it was a relatively quiet train so that was good. This train was going to take the line on the other side of the triangle to Cardiff via Llandaff and Cathays. This was even more new line. We were approaching Llandaff and I needed the toilet so I got up and walked down the one coach to the toilet. One thing I like about the class 150’s is that they have a nice gangway (area between the coaches) doors; I always panic about having the automatic doors that only open one side and then having to try and find the door release foot pressure plate. I worry that I will get stuck in the gangway if the door behind me closes. The class 150’s have physical handles so it is impossible to get stuck between coaches in the gangway.
I went into the toilet and another thing I stress about is getting stuck in the toilet, especially the ones with automatic doors. I like the physical lock ones as I have control and I know I can open the door and that if there is an electrical failure you can still exit the toilet. I know there are manual overrides but it still worries me. This one was an accessible toilet so it had to have automatic doors. This is really good as accessibility is really important, especially on trains. Although getting stuck does still worry me. Luckily, I managed to leave the toilet successfully so I felt at ease.
When I came out of the toilet, we were still in Llandaff station which is where the author Roald Dahl was born! Little interesting fact! We continued on towards Queen Street. On approach to Queen Street, we were held at a red signal as there was a train in front of us. After a few minutes we were on the move again heading into Cardiff Queen Street. We left Queen Street and proceeded towards Cardiff Bay, I have never been on this line before either. A few minutes later we arrived at Cardiff Bay and got off the train. Same as before I took a photo of the train (150282) and a few of the station and then got back onboard the train.
The train was a bit busier but still not unbearable. We were just taking this service as far as Queen Street as we were going to go to Cardiff Market and walk back to Central. The train left Cardiff Bay at 13:30 now working 2J63 the 13:30 Cardiff Bay to Pontypridd and then after a few more minutes we arrived back into Queen Street. We left the station and like before our tickets didn’t work in the barriers so a member of staff swiftly let us through.
Heading into the centre of Cardiff it was actually really busy, almost at an unbearable level and felt quite unsafe. Luckily, I had my mum with me so I just held her hand as we walked through the crowds. I was quite glad to get into the Market as it was relatively quiet. I had been told about the amazing Welsh Cakes that they sell at “Cardiff Bakestones”. It was really interesting to see how they make them! After buying 10 Welsh Cakes, we left the market and headed back towards Cardiff Central station. They are doing a lot of development outside Cardiff Central so much of the area is under construction. We walked into the station and saw a little coffee shop and we both fancied a cup of tea so we bought a large tea that my mum and I could share.
We went through the barriers and headed for platform 2, where our last train of the day would leave – 1M98 the 14:45 train from Cardiff Central to Nottingham. We were going to ride it as far as Gloucester. We sat down on the platform, drank a bit of tea and ate a Welsh Cake. The Welsh Cakes were delicious! The platform was really busy as the London train was due in a few minutes before our train. The train to London soaked up most of the passengers, so then it was relatively quiet on the platform. I took a few more photos and then our train arrived about 10 minutes late but luckily it didn’t affect the return working as it had a long turnaround time. We boarded the train and awaited the departure time. It was a busy service with very few empty seats but luckily there was only one stop, Newport, so the train couldn’t pick up many more passengers.
We left on time at 14:45 and headed back towards Gloucester. We stopped at Newport and then after that the next stop after that was Gloucester. The train just about had a bearable amount of passengers so I put on my headphones and listened to some music.
Before I knew it, we were coming into Gloucester so we alighted the train for the final time today and went out of the gate line. My dad was outside with Bella (our dog) who was very excited to see us! My dad drove us back home to end the day.
Thank you very much to all the railway staff I encountered who were very friendly and especially the guard on 2V11 11:57 Coryton to Radyr.
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Map of the validity on the Explore the Capital ticket:
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