Fri Jul 05, 2019 7:35 am
While I applaud the vision and the presentation, i am going to pour some cold water onto things.....
Most of the rail network and stations are already either in place or already announced as part of Metro, so just looking at what is new:
1. The Circle line is not really a circle. The extension to Felindre hospital and J33 is a good improvement. But this will not close the loop to Radyr but instead joins the main line to Taffs Well where it changes direction back to Radyr. This would put a big strain on line capacity through Morganstown.
2. Diverting the Circle onto the street south of Cardiff Central through Herbert Street and back to Queen Street is a good move but frequency would be limited by capacity through Queen Street station.
2. The Cross rail line through Plasdwr is essential and should be prioritised. And taking the line onto street through Callaghan Square before turning down to Cardiff Bay/Flourish/Plas Roald Dahl (or whatever it is called next week) is also a good thing. But the onward expansion back towards Rover Way/ Newport Road doesnt seem to be a prority
3. One new station stands out for me which is Roath Park (for UHW). Long overdue but how many trains will use it? Good for Circle line but how many Rhymney line trains will stop there?
4. BRT service looks good and fully integrated with metro - will it be baged as Metro or Cardiff Bus???
5. Cycle lanes are good but will do little for overall network capacity.
Build it and they will come.
Get it wrong and they will fall off.
