07 Jul 2023

FIVE major concerts in Cardiff over five weeks has seen the rail industry come together to get people home safely.

Beyonce, Harry Styles and Coldplay brought their world class tours to the Welsh capital, drawing in fans from north, west and south Wales as well as Bristol, London, Gloucester, Birmingham and Hereford.

Between the events over May and June, 58,851 were taken home safely by train the same night plus several thousand who had stayed over and travelled home the following day.

Each event was treated as a ‘Category A’ with a dedicated event plan in place to ensure the large numbers could be managed safely.

With the mid-week concerts all finishing at around 10:30pm, extra services had to be planned in over and above the normal timetable.

In total, 150 extra services ran after the five concerts between Transport for Wales, Great Western Railway and Cross Country Trains.

Special Events manager for Transport for Wales, Jonathan Goode, said: “We love seeing major events in Cardiff and there is always a brilliant atmosphere in the city.

“Mid-week night time concerts are always a challenge as people want to get home the same night for work and school the next morning, but on a usual timetable there would only be a few services left.

“So we do our best to put on as many extra trains and carriages as we can deliver and we’re really proud that together with our rail industry partners and the BTP that we were able to get 60,000 people home safely.”

GWR Customer Service & Operations Director, Richard Rowland, said: “Cardiff Central was incredibly busy following these concerts and we’re really proud to have come together as part of the railway family to help take people home safely.

“Being able to provide additional trains alongside our normal timetable services made a big difference and I’d like to say a big thank you for the patience shown by customers as we helped to manage queues following the events.”

Superintendent Andy Morgan for British Transport Police in Wales said: “Major event management can be complex at times, and often includes tens of thousands of additional passengers travelling across the rail network to and from Cardiff on the same day. 

“We plan well in advance and we strategically place our uniform and plain clothed officers where we know they will best keep the travelling public and rail colleagues safe aboard trains and at stations.

“We review every event to ensure we identify any areas for improvement and adapt the next plan accordingly, and we always do this alongside all the key partners, as this is without doubt a team effort.”

Nick Millington, route director for Network Rail Wales & Borders, added: “It’s great to see the railway industry in Wales come together to get thousands of people in and out of Cardiff for these incredible events.

 “Working with our industry partners, we are determined to continue to enable the mass transport of passengers for such events, keeping people safe and providing an enjoyable and timely service.”

The next major events in the Principality Stadium see Wales take on England and South Africa over the summer as they gear up for the Rugby World Cup