Arriva Trains Wales has agreed a ‘Barry Island Contingency Plan’ to reduce the inconvenience to travellers caused by unscheduled cancellations of the service to Barry Island.
This follows a meeting between Vale MP Alun Cairns and Arriva Trains Wales executives in which he raised concerns over the number of trains terminating before they reach Barry Island and the effect on local passengers.
According to the MP, the frequent termination of Barry Island trains at the Barry station causes great inconvenience and distress to many Islanders who can find themselves forced to wait at the Barry stop for further services or to walk across the causeway to the Island, often in poor weather.
The terminations are a measured used by Arriva to reduce the impact of delays along the line and restore services to the timetabled arrival and departure dates.
Arriva’s ‘Barry Island Contingency Plan’ will mean that some trains due to be terminated at Barry Island will now be ‘run fast’ to Barry Island. There will also be better forewarning of terminations, with the intention of giving passengers the choice of waiting at Cardiff Central, a station with greater amenities, instead of being made to wait at Barry.
Where it is not possible to communicate the decision to terminate the service at Barry before it has left Cardiff, the train guard will now assess the number of vulnerable passengers, including mothers, children and the disabled and report back to the control room. There may now be occasions, based on this information, when the service to Barry Island may not be cancelled.
In addition, depending on the time of day, passenger numbers and the expected time of the next service, passengers may be use their rail tickets on Cardiff Bus’ 95 service to the Island.
Vale MP Alun Cairns said, “I have received numerous letters, calls and emails from local people about the cancelling of Barry Island services at the Barry station. My main concern is for those elderly people, and parents with children often left stranded at Barry station when the café is closed.
“I am very glad that, following our meeting, Arriva is to enact this plan to reduce the impact of cancellations, and in many circumstances, decide against cancellation.”