Road, Rail & Access Issues

[Nuffsaid]

I have never understood why the vale of Glamorgan line was not extended to Swansea.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

The long term aspiration is for a half hourly train between Cardiff and Bridgend (via Barry) which would make the train more attractive. The increase would benefit the whole Vale of Glamorgan, as well as the Airport.

The issue surrounding the T9 is that it only benefitted the Airport, and even at 1.5-1.6m passengers, wasn't proving popular.

Most people using CWL are holiday makers, which tend to sway more towards using cars or minibuses in their groups. Public transport is more attractive to those travelling on city breaks, or visiting other countries for leisure or business purposes.

The link to Barry station has been suggested in the past and is a good idea due to the train frequency. It wouldn't add too much time onto the bus journey vs the Rhoose bus.

What really is needed, as suggested, is the link to West Wales, or at least Swansea. But with an increased frequency along the VOG line, at least the connection times at Bridgend would be better.

The issue is CWL in its current state is not providing the passenger numbers to justify investment in public transport. Very few people will choose to fly from CWL because of good transport links, it's a factor for some, but not a deciding factor for many. People choose flights over the price and then the times, and will always find their own way of getting to the airport.

 

[Jerry]

One limitation is that the earliest train on the Vale of Glamorgan line is 5:15 which is no good for 6am departures. An earlier train could be a possibility.

That's not so bad though considering most public transport usage is going to be by people using a city/connection route. At the moment that's Amsterdam, Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh and you might get some inbound tourism from Alicante and Malaga and maybe Faro. The earliest arrival/departure with them is Ryanair Dublin on Thursdays at 07.25/07.55. TUI passengers will tend to drive more than use public transport. I think for the morning flights CWL needs an onsite hotel to encourage people to travel to the airport the evening before either by train or car then overnight. The Celtic International is the closest hotel but has no shuttle bus and people need to book a taxi.
With bus I think more local services need to be encouraged as I don't see the demand for a service like T9 being there unless they add more stops to it.
With rail i think the focus needs to be on increasing frequency on the VOG line to Rhoose so it's every 30 minutes maybe even 20 minutes at some time of the day if the line can take that capacity.
The light rail/tram option i think the problem there would be demand for the airport but if it was part of a crossrail route then it might be more sustainable.
Fundamentally it comes down to passenger numbers and the type routes needed to sustain public transport links and at the moment CWL sadly has neither.

 

[Samdorob]

The long term aspiration is for a half hourly train between Cardiff and Bridgend (via Barry) which would make the train more attractive. The increase would benefit the whole Vale of Glamorgan, as well as the Airport.

I think that would certainly help. It’s whether the line between Cardiff and Barry could accommodate an extra service every hour.

TUI passengers will tend to drive more than use public transport. I think for the morning flights CWL needs an onsite hotel to encourage people to travel to the airport the evening before either by train or car then overnight.

I agree, TUI passengers are more likely to bring larger suitcases and drive/get a taxi. If CWL were to win back the 6am KLM flight and potentially have a low cost airline based, there may be more demand for public transport at that time of the morning.

There is a Holiday Inn practically on site but it’s currently being used as temporary accommodation. There’s also a travel lodge just down the road which would require a taxi to the airport, unless you’ve packed light and willing to risk it walking along a road with no pavement.

 

[Em0866]

It's a chicken and egg issue. Should there be more flights/passengers first before sorting out public transport back and forth or the other way around?

I was in Corsica recently and flew in and out of Bastia. A nonstop bus service between the airport and the centre of Bastia. Looking at the timetable the frequency changed throughout the day depending on the number of flights at certain times of the day. At quieter times the frequency dropped to once every two hours but it went up to every 20 minutes at busier times. With that in mind, would it be a way forward for the time being to have a direct bus service between the centre of Cardiff and the airport like this?

 

[Samdorob]

It's a chicken and egg issue. Should there be more flights/passengers first before sorting out public transport back and forth or the other way around?

I was in Corsica recently and flew in and out of Bastia. A nonstop bus service between the airport and the centre of Bastia. Looking at the timetable the frequency changed throughout the day depending on the number of flights at certain times of the day. At quieter times the frequency dropped to once every two hours but it went up to every 20 minutes at busier times. With that in mind, would it be a way forward for the time being to have a direct bus service between the centre of Cardiff and the airport like this?

That’s a good idea, although the airport would likely need to subcontract the bus and potentially run at a loss based on the current number of flights. Pre-booking online could be made cheaper so that they know the expected numbers.
Again I think the issue at the moment is you might have a flight with a two hour gap either side and the bus doing nothing.

 

[Jerry]

Looking at the timetable the frequency changed throughout the day depending on the number of flights at certain times of the day.

At Paris Beauvais the bus services are timed to meet the flights.

That’s a good idea, although the airport would likely need to subcontract the bus and potentially run at a loss based on the current number of flights.

Problem is that i doubt the airport itself could afford to subsidise such a route and i doubt the WG would be willing to either.

 

[Em0866]

Then maybe until there are more flights the bus link will have to remain dormant.

 

[Jerry]

Then maybe until there are more flights the bus link will have to remain dormant.

Yeah i suspect the best option for the airport to concentrate trying to get is a more frequent rail service.

 

[Jarvo]

The craziest thing is that one single document in london being signed by the same party that's in power in Wales would give the best solution of them all.
If Kier Starmer signed a bill designating HS2 an England only project ( ya know, that fast train line between two english cities of Birmingham and London) it would release £4 bln to the Welsh Government for Welsh rail improvements.
If the Welsh Gov chose to spend just 3.75% of that (£150m) on a rail spur to improve the value of its own asset, it could easily complete the work, install a junction at bridgend station to allow trains from the mainline eastbound to access the VoG, moderately upgrade key signalling junctions and create a couple of passing loops on the line to allow express trains through.... AND still have enough change left over to subsidise GWR extending the one TPH from Portsmouth Harbour - stopping only at Barry and Cardiff airport to the west. Connecting a deprived major town with direct services to three major nearby cities and centres of employment in the process.
Plus, on a lesser level 14 times a day some of the busiest stations in the south west would provide free advertising while announcing the platform of the direct Cardiff Airport service. Invaluable for ingraining the airport as a convenient option to those who may not have considered it before.

And there'd still be 96.25% of the budget still to spend elsewhere!

 

[Jerry]

The craziest thing is that one single document in london being signed by the same party that's in power in Wales would give the best solution of them all.

Unfortunately that's unlikely to happen. There's no need for him politically to do and lets be honest Wales isn't really much of a priority for his government and him personally.
Hopefully we'll see the VOG line go twice hourly.

 

[Nuffsaid]

The craziest thing is that one single document in london being signed by the same party that's in power in Wales would give the best solution of them all.
If Kier Starmer signed a bill designating HS2 an England only project ( ya know, that fast train line between two english cities of Birmingham and London) it would release £4 bln to the Welsh Government for Welsh rail improvements.
If the Welsh Gov chose to spend just 3.75% of that (£150m) on a rail spur to improve the value of its own asset, it could easily complete the work, install a junction at bridgend station to allow trains from the mainline eastbound to access the VoG, moderately upgrade key signalling junctions and create a couple of passing loops on the line to allow express trains through.... AND still have enough change left over to subsidise GWR extending the one TPH from Portsmouth Harbour - stopping only at Barry and Cardiff airport to the west. Connecting a deprived major town with direct services to three major nearby cities and centres of employment in the process.
Plus, on a lesser level 14 times a day some of the busiest stations in the south west would provide free advertising while announcing the platform of the direct Cardiff Airport service. Invaluable for ingraining the airport as a convenient option to those who may not have considered it before.

And there'd still be 96.25% of the budget still to spend elsewhere!

That is way too much joined up thinking are far too sensible a proposal!

 

[MrFenner]

RCIA railway station was the 14th most used airport link station in the UK this year.



I’m sure if the rail link was more frequent that number would be much higher!

 

[Jerry]

That's interesting because 172,000 would be roughly 15% of Cardiff passengers? It does need to be at least every 30 minutes but it is good to see the link getting used.
But is the number people using the station itself or just the airport link?

 

[MrFenner]

That's interesting because 172,000 would be roughly 15% of Cardiff passengers? It does need to be at least every 30 minutes but it is good to see the link getting used.
But is the number people using the station itself or just the airport link?

I believe it’s the amount of people using the actual station for arrival and/or departure - so statistically it’s half that figure. Likely therefore to be much less of a % of the total passenger figure.

Of course not all station users will be heading to the airport itself and doesn’t account for staff using the station - this also applies to all the other stations on the list.

 

[Jerry]

Would be interesting to know how many people used the station to get to the airport.

 

[Samdorob]

I’ve always thought it’s crazy how close the station is to the airport, yet not quite close enough to be considered “at the airport”. I agree with what others have said, it needs to be every 30 mins in both directions with the bus link. Not only for the airport link, but to service all the additional housing built around the station.

 

[Jerry]

So it looks like the airport rail frequency will go up to 2 hourly at the end of the year. I assume the shuttle bus frequency will as well.

 

[Jerry]

I hope they'll do more like this. A how to access Wales from Cardiff Airport by public transport series.