Metro

Masterplan shown here.https://www.sra-architects.co.uk/workplace/callaghan-square

You can see the line following the road south of the square but not clear how it connects east and west

https://flic.kr/ps/3Qg2US

I have been looking at proposals for Cardiff Crossrail and trying to work out what it will look like by overlaying proposals in various masterplans.

The Crossrail proposal says that it will connect Cardiff Central to Cardiff Bay and the only practical way to do this is by the line leaving Cardiff Central using the previous Riverside alignment - and then crossing Callaghan Square before joining up with the Cardiff Bay Line. There is a protected route in the Central Quay Masterplan with a proposed tram stop just to the south of the existing Cardiff Central South entrance.

There is also a protected route in the original Callaghan Square Masterplan to the south of the square and it doesnt take much guesswork to connect the two alignments. There is a new Callaghan Square Masterplan under development but it will almost certainly maintain the protected route.

After Callaghan Square the line would divide to the north and south with the Cardiff Circle line turning north and including a station at Herbert Street, with the Crossrail line turning south towards Loudon Sqare and Cardiff Bay.

Cardiff Council have also stated that they want to replace the existing Herbert Street bridge to widen the street below and enable realigning the road layout across Callaghan Square. I have assumed that the Herbert Street station would be situated immediatley to the north of the new bridge, but it could be incorporated onto the bridge itself.

A new bridge would also be needed over Bute Street, with the line rising up from street level.

This is pure speculation on my part, but the pieces all fit and I expect something very close to this to be built.

Bump

https://www.flickr.com/photos/185883845@N04/

Surely the tram would have to bridge over Bute st in order to join up with the existing bay line. Bute street would also probably require lowering to get under the bridge as the bay line isn't really that far above street level here. Alternatively, the road and rail could intersect at grade and therefore Bute street would be brought up to track level; but I'm not sure of the feasibility of this so I'd suggest your speculations are correct. Either way it would affect the potential for active frontages on the southeastern part of Callaghan Square.

Also I'm hoping the actual route into the platforms south of central is straighter than the route outlined in that image as curves that tight will be painfully slow to traverse and likely cause a fair amount of screeching (thinking Park Square junction in Sheffield if anyone has experienced it). Would be sad to loose the Herbert Street bridge but it is a huge pinch point and isn't great for walking or cycling let alone traffic so it desperately needs widening.

Interesting that they're planning on sending the circle line south of the station, I hadn't considered that when previously looking at capacity and service patterns (particularly at Cardiff West Junction). It would allow the circle line to share the track of the (hopefully) future grade separated junction at Cardiff West jct which would take crossrail under the VoG line. My only reservation with this is the sheer quantity of trains crossing Penarth Rd. If crossrail has a minimum of 4tph and circle line 2tph then I don't see any issue. However if Crossrail branches up to Beddau as well as Pontyclun then TFW would be looking to implement as close to 4tph to each terminus meaning a potential for 8tph. Couple this with the fact that the circle line should definitely be 4tph minimum and you've now got 12tph crossing a busy A road. I've not looked into other cases of this so perhaps my fears of disruption are unfounded but would be interested to hear if people think this is something to be concerned about or not?

The route from SWML to 'South Central' station is clear and reserved in the Central Quay Masterplan. The route along south of Callaghan Square is also clear - and connecting the two sections should be relatively straightforward.

I assume that at the east end of Callaghan Square the tram line would need to be gradually elevated so that it crosses over Bute Street to join the Bay Line.

Plans for five new TfW railway stations; Cardiff East, Newport West, Somerton, Llanwen and Magor.

https://nation.cymru/news/plans-for-fiv ... -services/

Interesting that we could end up seeing Cardiff East, Parkway & Newport West all on the line between Cardiff & Newport!

Some news on the redevelopment of Cardiff Central Station, although details are limited, sounds like we will hopefully start to see some plans emerge soon.

https://businessnewswales.com/network-r ... portunity/

Video showing progress on the Cardiff Bay branch:

https://youtu.be/M6qh2nwk_Lo?si=OVy_gXplUOHGxowa

Looks to me like they're planning on opening Butetown as a single platform station so it can be served while they build the second platform? Might have something to do with when the tram trains are expected to be running on the route as crossing between platforms was planned to be at grade (which I think is legally quite complicated as regulations don't allow for new level crossings with heavy rail) so may not be able to operate fully until its only tram trains running on the line.

Also a video showing the big changes that are happening on the Treherbert line (not Cardiff but good to see metro progress either way):

https://youtu.be/Nx-cCV24FYs?si=FzCTScuPJWm_6DdJ

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/transpor ... er_android

A good update here about the Butetown station and Bay line. May need a LinkedIn account to view.

Thanks for sharing the above links.
I am still confused about the difference between the South Wales Metro originally planned, and the Cardiff-Cardiff Bay tram line.
From what I understand, the South Wales Metro originally planned for double-tracking the line between Cardiff and Cardiff Bay, and adding the station at Butetown.
The tramline seems like it is just the same thing as the above, but with tram trains running on the line? Or is there in fact a plan for a further new line which the tram trains will run on, separate to the line they are working on now?

The plan is for tram platforms at ground level behind Central and a line that, via Callaghan Square and a ramp, joins the current Bay line.

Longer term there is planned to be an extension of this line via the docks on a freight line into Splott & Tremorfa then on to Newport Rd. Also there's a station called Pierhead Street planned beyond Cardiff Bay station to take the crowds from the arena.

Even longer term the platforms at Central will connect to the main line and go via the City line up to Plasdwr and beyond.

Of course how much of this actually happens is anyone's guess, but the first part has been levelling up funded and matched by the WG.

Thanks, understood! So the work currently ongoing supports part of the future tram line in a sense, but also isn’t directly related to the tram line.