Transport for Wales Rail Limited, branded as Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), is a state-owned Welsh train operating company. It is a subsidiary of Transport for Wales (TfW), a Welsh Government-owned company. It commenced operation of the Wales & Borders franchise on 7 February 2021, succeeding KeolisAmey Wales.
Transport for Wales Rail manages 248 National Rail stations, including all 223 in Wales, and operates all passenger mainline services wholly within Wales, and services along the England–Wales border, many of which run into or through England.
History During May 2018, the Wales & Borders franchise was awarded by Transport for Wales to KeolisAmey Wales. Operations commenced in October 2018; at this point, the franchise was scheduled to run for 15 years.
Within two years, the franchisee had experienced a collapse in revenues and a significant reduction in passenger numbers, which was largely attributable to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic; this trend led to the financial circumstances of the KeolisAmey Wales franchise becoming untenable. In response, during October 2020, the Welsh Government announced that it would be transferring operations of the Wales & Borders franchise from KeolisAmey Wales to an operator of last resort. It was also stated that, despite the early termination of the franchise, KeolisAmey and Transport for Wales would continue a partnership to enact further improvements on the network; specifically, Amey Infrastructure Wales (AIW) would remain involved in the delivery of various key projects, such as upgrading the Core Valley Lines.
On 7 February 2021, the Welsh Government-owned operator Transport for Wales Rail Limited took over running the franchise's services.
Perhaps one of the most prominent undertaking for TfW Rail is the implementation and future operation of the South Wales Metro; this will involve various infrastructure changes, including a brand new depot at Taff's Well, as well as a new fleet of trains built by Stadler Rail. One of the more unusual elements of this programme is the fleet of battery-electric tram-trains, which will operate on both on-street tracks and conventional railways.
Since taking on operations, Transport for Wales has introduced numerous changes to ticketing. On 24 January 2021, it launched a pilot scheme involving 90 convenience stores across South Wales to provide a new means of purchasing rail tickets; this scheme operated via a partnership with Payzone and used SilverRail retailing technology. TfW is the first UK-based train operating company to partner with Payzone. During August 2023, this arrangement was extended to North Wales and the Wirral via a partnership between Transport for Wales and numerous local businesses under which train tickets became available for purchase from local retail outlets offering a Payzone facility. That same year, a new ticketing arrangement with Unicard came into effect, enabling Transport for Wales to become the first British train operator outside of London to deploy contactless EMV services.
Funding for Transport for Wales Rail's operations is sourced from both the Welsh and British governments. Cost increases, such as the South Wales Metro's original budget of £738 million having risen to in excess of £1 billion, have been politically controversial. During October 2023, the Welsh government announced that it would provide an additional £125 million for Transport for Wales in response to a revenue shortfall from fares; this funding top-up was a substantial rise at a time of considerably budgetary pressure.
In 2025 Transport for Wales announced they had reopened the Barry Depot to passenger train drivers.
Services , Transport for Wales Rail operates these regular and daily services Monday to Friday:
North Wales Coast Line and North Wales to South Wales Route Calling at to to to 1 Marches, West Wales, Crewe–Shrewsbury Lines and Swanline Route Calling at to Cardiff Central 1 Nantwich, Whitchurch, Church Stretton, and Craven Arms are all served by the same train 7 trains per day are extended towards with further extensions to/from Fishguard Harbour, Milford Haven, or Pembroke Dock, calling at all respective intermediate stations (see below) Cardiff Central to Cardiff Central to 5 trains per day Cardiff-bound extend to Manchester Piccadilly, see above Cardiff Central to Crewe to Shrewsbury Cambrian Line Route Calling at Birmingham International to
This route splits/merges at Machynlleth with the route to Pwllheli (see below) Birmingham International to
This route splits/merges at Machynlleth with the route to Aberystwyth (see above) Heart of Wales line Route Calling at Shrewsbury to Swansea 4 Conwy Valley line Route Calling at to 6 Borderlands line Route Calling at to Wrexham–Crewe and Liverpool–Llandudno Route Calling at Wrexham General to Crewe 1 to Llandudno 1 Cardiff–Cheltenham Route Calling at Cardiff Central to 1 Ebbw Valley Railway and Maesteg line Route Calling at to 1 Ebbw Vale Town to Newport 1 Rhondda, Merthyr, City and Butetown branch lines Route Calling at Cardiff Central to 2 to via Cardiff Central 2 to Pontypridd 2 Cardiff Bay to Cardiff Queen Street 2 Shuttle service Rhymney, Vale of Glamorgan and Coryton lines Route Calling at Bridgend to 1 to Rhymney 1 Barry Island to Bargoed 2 to Caerphilly 2 Penarth to 2
Rolling stock Overview
Transport for Wales Rail inherited KeolisAmey Wales's fleet, which consisted of Class , , , , and diesel multiple units, diesel-battery electric multiple units, bi-mode multiple units and Mark 4 and DVT sets with an allocation of locomotives.
During its first years of operation, TfW Rail enacted multiple fleet changes. This was largely driven by pre-existing procurement arrangements that had been arranged by KeolisAmey Wales; at one point, it was intended for the majority of TfW Rail's inherited rolling stock, along with additional temporary vehicles, to be replaced by 2023 (with the exception of the Class 67 locomotives). Under these plans, the and diesel multiple units, tri-mode multiple units and tram-trains were set to replace the Class 150, Class 153, and Class 158 fleets.
Current fleet FamilyClassImageTypeTop speedNumberCarriagesRoutes operatedBuiltmphkm/hLocomotive-hauled stock Premier Service Diesel locomotive 125 200 12 – –/ –Cardiff Central Mark 4 Coach 140 225 37 4 or 5 Manchester Piccadilly–Cardiff Central/Swansea Holyhead–Cardiff Central To run as 7 x 4 or 5 coach + DVT sets with a spare DVT, SV and TOE 19891992 Driving Van Trailer Control car 8 1 Diesel multiple unit Sprinter DMU 75 120 31 2 Valley Lines & Cardiff local routes Heart of Wales/West Wales lines Regional services between south and west Wales, north-west England and south-west England 1987 13 1 19871988 90 145 24 2 Cambrian Line West Wales lines North Wales Coast Line Shrewsbury–Chester line Regional services between south and north Wales, north-west England and south-west England 19891992CAF Civity100161512 Regional services between North, South and West Wales and England Borderlands line Conwy Valley lineFrom 2020263Diesel-battery electric multiple unitVivarail D-TrainD BEMU609753 Borderlands line Diesel-electric multiple unitStadler FLIRTDEMU90145114 Valley Lines (Rhymney line and southwards to and via Vale of Glamorgan Line)20202022Tri-mode multiple unitsStadler FLIRTTMU7512073 Valley Lines (Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare lines)2021–2023174Tram-trainsStadler CitylinkTram-train62100363 Light rapid transit Services between Cardiff Bay and Treherbert, Aberdare, and Merthyr Tydfil
Newly introduced / future fleet Cascades and refurbishments Class 67-hauled Mark 4 set Six locomotives have been adapted to work with three sets each comprising four Mark 4 carriages and a Mark 4 Driving Van Trailer, which will replace the Mark 3 stock previously used on locomotive-hauled services. The twelve carriages and three DVTs were able to cascade from London North Eastern Railway, as a result of the introduction of and on the East Coast Main Line. The Mark 4 coaches have retained the Virgin Trains East Coast livery, but with Transport for Wales labels attached. The Mark 4 Driving Van Trailers will be repainted into the new Transport for Wales livery. Four of the six Class 67 locomotives have been repainted into TfW Rail livery. TfW Rail introduced the Mark 4 sets in June 2021 on Cardiff to Holyhead services, and from December 2022 they will operate services between Swansea and Manchester using trains which had previously been planned to be used on the Blackpool route by Grand Central. The three Mark 4 sets will be retained and will remain on the routes they will work from their date of introduction on TfW Rail services.
Class 153 TfW Rail will retain eight units to operate services on the Heart of Wales line.
New trains For the longer term fleet replacement, 148 brand new trains will be introduced including 77 CAF Civity trains (), 35 FLIRT trains ( and ) and 36 Citylink tram-trains () have been ordered. The addition of these trains to the fleet, from 2021 to 2024 but mostly in 2022–23, will allow the 109 (total) Class 150, 153 (13 by then), 158, 175 and 769 units to be withdrawn.
Class 197 Civity A total of 77 Civity diesel multiple units were ordered from CAF for long-distance routes. These trains have end gangways, but fewer toilets than the Class 158 and Class 175 DMUs they replace. They are however faster, with more powerful engines and more efficient transmissions for better acceleration, as well as a higher top speed than the Class 158. 51 units are two-cars in length and 26 are three-cars in length.
CAF undertook the fabrication, welding and painting of the Class 197 fleet in their factory in Beasain, Spain. The first Driving Motor carriage vehicle bodyshell had largely passed this stage by 12 February 2020, when it was pictured in the Beasain factory. The painted bodyshells were shipped to Newport, South Wales, for further assembly and component fit-out at CAF's new UK factory in Llanwern.
Class 230 D-Train
Five D-Train diesel-battery electric multiple units were built in England from former London Underground D78 Stock aluminium bodyshells by start-up rolling stock manufacturer Vivarail between 2019 and 2020. Originally expected to enter service from May 2022, they began operations on the Borderlands line at the beginning of April 2023.
Class 756/231 FLIRT and Class 398 Citylink A total of 35 Stadler FLIRT units have been ordered (consisting of 24 tri-modes – 7 three-car and 17 four-car units – and 11 diesel-electrics), along with 36 tram-trains. These units will be manufactured at Stadler's factory in Szolnok, Hungary, and assembled at their plant in Bussnang, Switzerland. The Class 398 tram-trains are particularly unusual, being able to operate on both heavy rail and at street-level; accordingly, each three-car unit features level boarding and has a maximum passenger capacity of 256. In March 2023, the first of these tram-trains was delivered; testing commenced nine months later. In November 2024, the first of the Class 756 tri-mode trains entered service on the Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare lines. The first of the Class 398 tram-trains entered service on 23 June 2026.
Past fleet On 29 May 2021, TfW Rail permanently withdrew its fleet of , which were not compliant with persons with reduced mobility legislation (PRM) and their PRM dispensation expired; their duties were taken over by PRM-compliant vehicles.
Between September 2021 and November 2022, all of TfW Rail's two-car sets were transferred to East Midlands Railway. Operation of the three-car Class 170 continued through to spring 2023, at which point the last of TfW Rail's three-car units was transferred to the East Midlands. The final '170' transferred on 29 January 2024.