King Charles pays a rainy birthday visit to South Wales

THE King celebrated his 77th birthday by taking the controls of a tram-train as he officially opened a new rail depot in South Wales.

- ELEANOR STOREY and ROD MINCHIN

Charles was in Taff’s Well to formally unveil the South Wales Metro Depot as part of a series of engagements to mark his birthday.

He briefly took the driver's seat to take the tram around the depot before meeting Transport for Wales staff who have worked to deliver the flagship project.

The purpose-built depot is located on the former Garth Works industrial estate to maintain a fleet of 36 tram-trains - creating 400 jobs - that will operate across the South Wales area.

The tram-train that the King drove was officially named Myddfai, after the small Carmarthenshire village nestled in the Brecon Beacons, near Charles's former Welsh home.

To mark the visit and Charles's birthday, he was presented with an old piece of rail which had been made into bookends by Amey, who constructed the depot, and a Swiss cow bell from rail rolling stock manufacturer Stadler who built the fleet.