Transport for Wales sees passenger numbers soar

TRANSPORT for Wales (TfW) has seen the biggest percentage rise in passenger numbers of any train operator in the UK, new official figures show.

- SION BARRY

TfW, which operates the Wales and Borders network, saw passenger journey numbers climb 19% from April 2024 to the end of March to 31.3 million on a year earlier.

Of the 24 train operators assessed by the Office for Road and Rail (ORR), the second-highest year-on-year increase was experienced by TransPennine Express, up 17% to 27.5 million, and CrossCountry (whose services operate in Wales), up 15% to 37.8 million.

The significant increase by TfW comes as it starts to reap the benefits of the £800m of new trains across its network funded by the Welsh Government.

Its services also operate in England, including a popular Cardiff-to-Manchester route. Its passenger numbers will accelerate in the future as it introduces a fleet of 35 new tram-trains on the South Wales Metro.

A fully operational turn-up-and-go tram-train network is expected to be fully operational by next year.

The ORR figures show the number of kilometres travelled by TfW passengers also grew 13% to 1.2 billion.

TfW is the transport body of Welsh Government.