Rail firms have warned Stereophonics and Tom Jones fans to expect queues for train services after their bumper Cardiff gigs. Great Western Railway (GWR) will be putting on extra trains on Friday and Saturday night when Welsh artists Stereophonics and Sir Tom Jones take over the Principality Stadium for two nights running on Friday and Saturday. You can read more about that here.
Train companies have already asked some people not to use their services amid fears of travel chaos as people pour out of the capital. And GWR has said that there will still be queues, despite providing an extra 31 trains and more than 17,000 seats for people leaving Cardiff Central. Transport for Wales has warned that it faces some capacity constraints following criminal damage to some of its carriages and will be providing additional bus services where possible.
In a repeat of the queueing system in place for the earlier Six Nations fixtures and the recent Ed Sheeran concerts people travelling to Newport after the game will be asked to queue on the square in front of Cardiff Central station rather than from Riverside Car Park. On Friday GWR will run eight services to Swansea from 9.24pm plus 10 services to Newport and on to either Bristol Temple Meads or Bristol Parkway from 10pm. On Saturday it will operate five services to Swansea from 9.13pm and eight services to Newport and on to either Bristol Temple Meads or Bristol Parkway from 9pm. Customers are advised to keep checking social media for the latest information on queuing times.
Read more: If you're planning to drive to the shows then head this way to check the road closures
GWR customer service and operations director Richard Rowland said: “We’re doing all we can to help customers home following these concerts by providing additional trains alongside our normal timetable services. But as we saw during the recent Ed Sheeran concerts trains do get very busy and there will be a need to queue outside the station following the gigs. Safety of our customers is of the uppermost importance and we would encourage them to check journey times and allow sufficient time to queue to board trains safely.”
There were complaints last weekend as football fans who headed from north Wales to Cardiff for Saturday's Nations League branded the train service a "disgrace" amid scenes of overcrowding and there was also heavy criticism of the train service for Ed Sheeran's recent gigs in Cardiff . Read more here about the overcrowding on Saturday.
A Transport for Wales spokesman added: "Services in South Wales are expected to be very busy throughout both days of the Stereophonics and Tom Jones concerts. All available carriages are in service but we continue to face some capacity constraints as a result of the damage some of our carriages suffered in the recent incident at Craven Arms – the impact of this serious criminal act will continue to be felt for some time. We’ll provide additional bus services to supplement the trains where possible.
“It is vital customers check before they travel and allow plenty of time to get into Cardiff. After the concert has finished we advise people to make their way straight to Cardiff Central station for their return journey. We also strongly encourage those travelling shorter distances to walk, cycle, or use local bus services." Travellers have also been reminded that no trains can run through Bristol Parkway on Sunday because of engineering works.
