02 Jul 2021
Rugby supporters returning to the Principality Stadium for the first time in 16 months are being urged to plan their travel carefully, with social distancing unlikely to be possible on many busy train services.
Up to 8,200 fans will be in attendance when Wales take on Canada in Cardiff on Saturday, the first time supporters have been inside the national stadium for an international since the end of February 2020.
With the British and Irish Lions also playing on Saturday (5pm kick off) and the England football team’s Euro 2020 quarter-final against Ukraine kicking off at 8pm, the Wales and Borders network is expected to be very busy with sports fans heading to pubs and venues to watch the games.
Leyton Powell, TfW’s Safety and Sustainability Director, said: “Despite the capacity inside the Principality Stadium being reduced, we’re still expecting tens of thousands of people to travel on the Wales and Borders network to watch this Saturday’s games either at the stadium or in pubs across the country.
“Every day, we’re doing everything we can to provide as much capacity on board our trains as possible, ensuring every available carriage is in service. We will also have supplementary road transport in place to provide journey options for customers coming into Cardiff for the game and going home later.
“As well as this, it’s vital people take responsibility for their journey, plan ahead, use our Capacity Checker tool to see which services are likely to be busy and always follow our travel safer advice. This includes wearing a face covering (unless exempt), respect our colleagues and other passengers, and cleaning your hands regularly.”
Passengers travelling to Cardiff from east or west Wales are encouraged to use the larger-capacity intercity (Great Western Railway) services from Swansea or Newport.
Queuing systems will also be in place at Cardiff Central and additional support teams will be at key stations to help manage the safety of travellers.
You can use the Transport for Wales Capacity Checker by visiting their website here.
