Trên-Tram Metro De Cymru Cyntaf Yn Cyrraedd Y Depo Newydd

The South Wales Metro has taken another important step forward with the arrival of the first brand CITYLINK to Transport for Wales’ new depot in Taff’s Well. The Class 398 tram-train was delivered by road to the new Taff’s Well depot overnight on Tuesday 21 March 2023. The tram-trains have been built by Stadler València, and have been undergoing extensive testing for several months at Network Rail’s Rail Innovation and Development Centre in Leicestershire.

The 36 tram-trains will be a key part of the South Wales Metro, providing more capacity and more frequent services that will be greener for the environment and more accessible for customers. They will enter service in 2024 on the Treherbert, Aberdare, Merthyr and City lines, after the completion of the Core Valley Lines transformation work, which includes the Treherbert Line transformation project announced yesterday.

Through working with train manufacturers Stadler and CAF, TfW is investing more than  800 million GBP into brand new trains for the Wales and Borders network. The first new trains began operating services on the network in late 2022.

The transformation of the Core Valley Lines for the Metro has been part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through Welsh Government, and will enable faster, more frequent services between Cardiff and the heads of the valleys.