The Changing Rail Scene in South Wales

South Wales has long been a popular destination for railway enthusiasts. The area’s industrial heartland has ensured a continuous procession of trains carrying a variety of freight traffic. While most of the coal traffic may have gone, the visitor to Cardiff or Newport can still be rewarded with a mix of twenty-first-century rail freight.

In this book, the many changes to the South Wales rail scene in the last thirty years are traced. The 1990s will be remembered as the decade of privatisation. The many freight trains on display before the arrival of the ubiquitous Class 66 saw the end of much of this variety of motive power. In particular, the English Electric Type ‘3’ and Brush Type ‘4’ gave way to General Motors’ Class 66 locos shortly after privatisation.

On the passenger front, most Welsh services have been in the hands of Arriva, under their Arriva Trains Wales branding. More recently, these services have been operated by Transport for Wales. The electrification of the Great Western Main Line from London Paddington to Cardiff has seen the end of the ever-popular High Speed Trains on services to the capital. The long-serving ‘Pacers’ have also gone and there are motive-power changes in the Valleys as well as on the main line.

John Jackson draws on his substantial photographic archive as he explores the changing rail scene in South Wales from the 1990s to the present day.