Transport in Cardiff
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Transport in Cardiff, capital and largest city in Wales involves road, rail, an extensive bus network and air.
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[edit] Road
The M4 motorway connects Cardiff to other towns and cities in Britain. To the east: Newport, Bristol, Bath, Swindon, Reading and terminating at London. To the west: Bridgend, Swansea, Llanelli and terminating near Camarthen. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Cardiff can be easily accessed from junctions 29 - 34 inclusive.
The A48(M) motorway connecting Junction 29 to the city centre with exits for the Cardiff suburbs of Pontprennau, Pentwyn, Llanederyn and St. Mellons and also the University Hospital of Wales.
The A4232 (also called the Link Road) connects M4 junction 33 with junction 30 by bypassing through the south of the city. From J33, exits are at Culverhouse Cross Interchange, Leckwith Interchange, Grangetown (for Barry and Penarth), Butetown, Cardiff Bay and Docks after passing through the Butetown Tunnel, Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff Central and then heading unsigned through Tremorfa, Llanederyn, Pentwyn and joining M4 Junction 30 at Pontprennau.
The A470 road is the main North - South Wales route running from Cardiff Bay to Llandudno via exits for the suburbs of Tongwynlais and Taff's Well.
Congestion can be a big problem due to the city's size and the Welsh Assembly Government is considering to introduce variable congestion charging in the city centre.
[edit] Rail
The largest stations in Cardiff (and Wales) are Cardiff Central and Cardiff Queen Street which over 11 million people use each year. They are both operated by Arriva Trains Wales and controlled by ticket barriers.
[edit] National
Cardiff Central is one of the busiest stations in the United Kingdom with 9 platforms and serves as an interchange for services for all other Welsh stations (except Newport) to mainline services. Cardiff Central is situated on the South Wales Mainline providing national services while Queen Street station is the hub of the Valley Lines suburban rail network (See Below).
Central Station provides regular shuttle services to London Paddington via Bristol Parkway, with other links to Swansea on the South Wales Mainline while other national services connect Cardiff with Bristol Temple Meads, Birmingham, Nottingham, Manchester, Southampton and Portsmouth.
Recently there have also been improvements to the north-south Wales rail network and there are now services every 2 hours that connect Wrexham, Llandudno and Holyhead in North Wales to Cardiff and the South.
It is conveniently located right next to Central Bus Station on Wood Street, less than 5 minutes walk from the St. Mary's Street, which is well known for its nightlife and Queen Street, the main shopping district in Cardiff. Central Station offers cafés, a newsagent, WHSmith and Marks and Spencer Simply Food to its passengers. Burger King is also located just outside the main doors.
[edit] Suburban Rail
Cardiff has its own metro system operated by Arriva Trains Wales under the name of 'Valley Lines'. With Cardiff Queen Street as the hub, it connects Cardiff's suburbs to the city centre. There are seven suburban lines that connect Central and Queen Street stations to 22 railway stations in the city, whilst other lines connect Cardiff stations to towns around South East Wales.
[edit] Bus
Most of Cardiff's bus services operate from Central Bus Station on Wood Street.
[edit] National
Stand A at Central Station is used for departures to destinations outside Cardiff and the Vales e.g. TrawsCambria X40 to Aberystwyth, Shuttle 100 to Swansea, Stagecoach services to the Valleys and all National Express Services (e.g. Birmingham, London, Leeds). The Megabus service to London stops outside Cardiff Castle on Kingsway.
[edit] Local
Cardiff Bus uses stands B, C, D, E, F and W at Central Station and uses The Hayes bus station for departures to Penarth and Barry, which call at Central. Other main bus hubs in the city are Westgate Street, St. Mary Street, Castle Street, Kingsway, Greyfriars Road, Dumfries Place and Queen Street Station.
[edit] Air
Cardiff, as well as South and West Wales, is served by Cardiff International Airport. Scheduled, Charter, and low-cost flights are operated on a regular basis to the UK, Europe and North America all year round. It is located at Rhoose, southwest of the city and is linked via train and bus to Central Cardiff.
[edit] Future Plans
There are a number of plans in Cardiff to help facilitate traffic into the city centre and reduce chronic congestion that has plagued the city in recent years.
[edit] Road
There are plans to complete the outer ring road, by completing the Eastern Bay Link Road which will help transport into Cardiff Bay and reduce congestion in the city centre. However the cost of the project has delayed construction and there is still no date for when it will commence.
There are also plans to increase park and ride services to reduce congestion and a city centre congestion charge is also planned for the next decade.
[edit] Rail and Light Rail
There are plans to open more railway stations on existing lines in order to encourage more people to leave their cars at home and help reduce city centre congestion.
Also of note is the long-held plan to introduce a light rail line connecting Cardiff Bay and the new proposed transport interchange to replace the central bus station. However it is likely to have been shelved due to rising costs.
