A man has slammed an "appalling" train journey home from what he described as a "hellish dystopia" of central Cardiff.
Author Mike Parker shared updates of his train journey from Cardiff Central Station to Caersws which took a full day. The same journey by car would take just two hours and twenty minutes.
As well as the disastrous journey he had on the Transport for Wales service on Friday, Mike had a lot to say about the "hellish dystopia" that is the landscape outside Cardiff Central station, the building itself he described as "beautiful". But it was the empty surroundings with "nothing there to lift the heart or gladden the soul", that left him the most disappointed.
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Sharing his opinion to Twitter, Mike Parker said: "OK, had a ranty day after an awful train journey home from Cardiff. So, here's the crappy cherry on the cake. Cardiff Central is a beautiful station - how on earth have we let its surroundings be turned into such a hellish dystopia? It is the worst possible Croeso i Gymru.
"It's such a deeply inhuman space. Nothing there to lift the heart or gladden the soul. Buildings to chill you, street furniture to intimidate. The main design remit appears to be that it can be hosed down with the minimum of effort and disruption, like an animal enclosure."
It isn't the first time the area has received criticism for its lack of character. WalesOnline readers have previously described the area as an "absolute eyesore", as well as calling it: "Lovely, sterile and extremely hot with no shade in the summer and like an open valley with three different wind traps in Winter."
The space is reportedly designed in order to be able to cope with the vast amount of people that queue at the station following major stadium events. There are also trees planted in the area which are yet to mature.
What is even more astonishing is the journey from Cardiff to mid Wales that Mike detailed on his Twitter feed. He said the day started with one cancelled train to north Wales, meaning the next train which was made up of two carriages had to take many more people on a hot summer day. That train was also late arriving
The train arrived in Shrewsbury late, six minutes after his connecting train to Aberystwyth had left. The next train to Aberystwyth wasn't for another one hour and 50 minutes. He described the journey as taking "all f*cking day".
A Transport for Wales spokesperson said: “We were sorry to hear that the customer had experienced a difficult journey to mid Wales from Cardiff. Unfortunately train services can be impacted by a number of factors including trespass and mechanical issues, but we will always do our best to keep our customers moving as quickly and safely as possible. We are investing hundreds of millions of pounds in brand new trains which will be more reliable and offer an improved journey experience.”
