en.Wedoany.com Reported - Transport for Wales (TfW) has completed final testing and staff training for 36 Stadler Citylink tram-trains, with the first vehicles scheduled to enter commercial service this summer on the Pontypridd to Cardiff Bay line. These fully electric three-car trains will replace diesel Class 150 units, delivering on the core promise of the South Wales Metro: a 15-minute service frequency and travel times of approximately 50 minutes between Cardiff and Treherbert, Aberdare, and Merthyr. As the vehicles are not equipped with onboard toilets, station toilet upgrades are being accelerated. Project participants include Transport for Wales (operator), Stadler (train supplier), and the Welsh Government (funder).

The deployment scope includes 36 new tram-trains, completed infrastructure works, and phased timetable changes on three valley lines. Each Citylink train offers level boarding, open-plan carriages, and enhanced space for wheelchairs and bicycles. To ensure passenger comfort without onboard toilets, TfW is building nine new accessible station toilets on the Treherbert, Aberdare, and Merthyr lines, and modernising five existing facilities, equipped with CCTV, real-time help points, and remote door locks to reduce anti-social behaviour. These trains can also operate on light rail tracks, a capability that lays the groundwork for the future Cardiff Crossrail plan. The total fleet cost has not been disclosed.

For context, the 36 Stadler Citylink trains ordered by TfW are more than five times the number deployed in the UK's first tram-train pilot project—seven Class 399 Citylink trains in South Yorkshire (source: South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), 2018). That pilot validated the feasibility of heavy rail and light rail interoperability, while the Welsh fleet was designed from the outset for high-frequency metro intervals and future street-running operations. In 2025, the UK Chancellor announced a total of £15.6 billion in five-year funding agreements for English Mayoral Combined Authorities, including feasibility studies for extending the Tyne & Wear Metro to Washington and reopening the Leamside Line (source: HM Treasury, 2025). These plans reflect a national focus on high-frequency, electrified urban regional networks, but Wales operates under its own devolved funding arrangements and has not published comparable cost data.

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