The tally of cancelled or part-cancelled services is almost double the Transport for Wales network average
TRAIN cancellations at Penarth station are so regular that a business owner says it is more surprising when services run on time.
Penarth station has recorded 1,690 train cancellations – affecting 8.7% of all scheduled services – over the last year, according to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
That means an average of 4.6 trains are part or fully cancelled every day. The figure is nearly double the 4.7% cancellation rate seen across the TfW network during the same period, running from November 1, 2023 to October 31, 2024.
Louise Morgan, the director of TMPR marketing agency in Penarth, employs staff who rely on the train to get to work.
“There is ALWAYS a problem – it’s more the exception when the trains run smoothly,” she said.
“We have a student on placement with us, and several times a week the train cancellations/delays impact her ability to get to work on time.
“We chose Penarth as our permanent base because of the transport links, but the unpredictability of the service is compromising our future growth.”
Crossed the line: A train approaches Penarth Station. Credit: James Bessant Davies
Aneela Ali, a project manager working in central Cardiff who commutes between Penarth and Queen Street, said: “Half of the time the morning service is delayed or cancelled. The 08:05 is renowned for it.
“The disruption has a knock-on effect on my day. I have to give apologies and move meetings forward. Some of my colleagues commute from Penarth too and it makes life unnecessarily difficult.
“I caught a train from Oxford to Penarth last week. It was the final leg from Cardiff Central that caused the most hassle, as I had to wait over an hour due to cancelled trains.”
Anthony Ernest, the Conservative councillor for Penarth’s Plymouth ward, said: “I feel very sorry for the many people who have missed onward connections from Cardiff as a result of the cancellations at Penarth station.”
“The reliability since the through-route was switched from Penarth to Rhymney, to Penarth to Coryton and Caerphilly, has been absolutely dreadful, and using old and unreliable rolling stock is not helping the situation.
“I call on TfW to ‘pull up their socks’ and get this vital service once more running on time.”
According to Transport for Wales, the main reasons for cancellations were “a shortage of available trains to use on this route” alongside infrastructure failures and train crew issues. The data also showed that 7,988 trains were delayed by up to five minutes, 1,231 were delayed between six and ten minutes, and 331 experienced delays of over 11 minutes.
Customers using Delay Repay are entitled to claim compensation if their train is delayed by 15 minutes or more.
Over the same time period, TfW received seven complaints about rude or discourteous staff at Penarth Station, as more than any other type of compliant, including about the re-timing of services.
The Welsh Government-owned operator, which took over from Arriva nearly seven years ago, has tried to improve rail services across the country. However, in 2023, a Rail User Survey showed that only 72% of passengers were satisfied with TfW’s service, making it the lowest-rated operator in the UK.
By comparison, Southern Railway, the second-lowest, achieved a satisfaction rate of 80%. TfW scored particularly poorly in categories such as punctuality and reliability (59%), service frequency (54%), and value for money (51%).
But, recent figures show improvement. Between February and September 2024, overall passenger satisfaction rose to 85%, with punctuality and reliability climbing to 73%.
But commuters in Penarth remain unhappy.
“There hasn’t been a day without cancellations due to traffic signal faults or trains breaking down,” said Athanasia Dervisi, a lecturer at Cardiff University, who uses the train daily.
“It’s pretty unreliable when trying to get to work on time.”
Image: a train at Penarth Station. James Bessant Davies
A spokesperson for Transport for Wales said: “As part of an £800m investment in new trains, we are continuing to introduce more of our tri-mode Class 756 trains across the South Wales Metro area from later this year.
“This will improve reliability and punctuality across the network. The electrification of the Coryton line, due to take place in the coming weeks, will enable us to introduce these brand-new trains on the Penarth line.”
