A "horrendous" train journey left passengers in tears and one missed a funeral, Senedd members have said. Two MSs were caught up in delays on Monday after an incident at Abergavenny which meant a three-hour journey lasted seven hours and passengers were stranded. One train was stationary for four hours without any announcements because the carriage's speaker didn't work.
Conservative MS for Aberconwy Janet Finch-Saunders told Welsh Government minister Lesley Griffiths on Tuesday, March 30. "Three trains, several carriages, and hundreds of passengers left stranded on these trains in warm weather conditions with no ventilation. The first train, we were allowed on the platform for a couple of hours. I left my office with a member of staff at 1 o'clock. I arrived in my flat here, in Cardiff, at 10 o'clock last night. It was the most horrendous situation I've ever witnessed: people crying, people anxious to get to their final destination.
"In desperation, my colleague Llyr Gruffydd and I took to Twitter, copying in the Deputy Minister, and hour by hour went past with nothing. Frankly, I would have been really ashamed to have been the Deputy Minister, or not to have gone on to Twitter and said, 'Look, I will launch an investigation as to what's gone wrong.' But we were kept with no food, no nourishment, no sustenance or anything. I'm pretty upset about it, because I know someone who missed a funeral, somebody who's lost their job, and frankly, everybody, everybody had a really sad story. Being an hour or two delayed, these things happen. We're talking five or six hours, stuck on a train, unable to do anything. Now I think that it was such a serious issue yesterday that the Deputy Minister should have come forward this morning to actually make a statement. So, it's not your fault, Trefnydd, and I'm not getting annoyed with you, but I do want a statement from Lee Waters and I will pursue, and I shall ask and ask again."
Plaid Cymru MS Llyr Gruffydd was also impacted. He said it was the "most appalling experience I've ever had in using a train in Wales".
"The journey, which was supposed to be three hours, was a seven-hour journey. My train was stationary for four hours. That was one train; I know of four other trains in the same situation. No information, because the loudspeaker in my carriage didn't work. And that's the state of our rolling stock at the moment. No alternative transport. Although we'd waited four hours, no arrangements in place to move passengers. There were people who were ill on one of the trains; there were people in tears on my train. Someone did miss a funeral; someone was concerned about the future of their employment because they were late for their shift. I listened to Transport for Wales officers in the committee a fortnight ago, saying, 'Yes, it's challenging, but things are improving.' Do you know what? I don't think I can believe a word they tell us any more. I certainly don't feel that I have any confidence in them at the moment.
"I heard that there were other problems again this morning: trains from north to south running late, being cancelled. I had a number of people contacting me on Friday morning, thousands of people trying to travel back to north Wales after the game on Thursday night and there were two carriages. Just two carriages. Didn't Transport for Wales realise that the game was happening?"
Both asked for the deputy minister in charge of transport, Lee Waters, to deliver a statement explaining what is going to be done to fix issues. Mr Gruffydd also asked for an apology.
"I want him to explain to us as a Senedd what he's going to do to resolve this problem in the short term; and he needs to explain why we're going to have to wait until the end of the year before we see new stock on the north-south service. Because if the service continues as it is for the next eight months until then, well, there'll be nobody left using the trains from north to south."
A spokesman for Transport for Wales said: “On Monday 28 March a mechanical failure on the 12:31pm Manchester to Milford Haven service caused severe disruption to long distance services throughout the afternoon. Due to the complex nature of the issue the train could not be moved for several hours. The line was closed for a short period to allow passengers to be taken off the service and replacement road transport was put in place.
"We understand incidents such as this, although rare, are incredibly frustrating for passengers and we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused. When our services arrive at their destination 15 minutes or more later than scheduled ‘Delay Repay’ applies and we will offer fair and appropriate compensation. Passengers can apply for compensation at TfW’s dedicated Delay Repay website within 28 days of completion of their journey.”
