Transport in Wales
Transport in Wales is heavily influenced by the country's geography. Wales is predominantly hilly or mountainous, and the main settlements lie on the coasts of north and south Wales, while mid Wales and west Wales are lightly populated. The main transport corridors are east–west routes, many continuing eastwards into England.[1]
Walking
Since 2012, Wales Coast Path in North Wales follows part of the Reading to Holyhead National Cycle Route 5.[2]
Road
The trunk road network carries around one third of road traffic in Wales.[1] Around 80 per cent of traffic on Welsh roads is cars, taxis, and minibuses, mainly on east–west routes in north and south Wales.[1]
South Wales
Wales has 83 miles (134 kilometres) of
.Following construction of the new bridge, the original Severn Bridge—which crosses the river further upstream at Chepstow—was re-numbered the M48 motorway. Tolls were once collected upon entering Wales using either of the two bridges; these were abolished on 19 December 2018.[3] The A48(M) is a small spur from the M4, from west Newport to east Cardiff.
The second major road is the
The A465 Heads of the Valleys road, currently being upgraded to dual carriageway, provides a link between the M4 near Neath across the Heads of the Valleys to Abergavenny, Monmouth and England's West Midlands via the A40 and M50.
North Wales
One of the main arteries for North Wales is the
One of the oldest roads, the
North–south
Two routes serve as the main north–south links. The A483 begins near Swansea and takes a north-easterly route to Ammanford, Llandeilo, Llandovery, Llanwrtyd Wells, Builth Wells, Llandrindod Wells, Newtown, Welshpool, Oswestry and Wrexham, finally ending at Chester.
The A470 begins in Cardiff Bay and passes through Cardiff, north-to-north-westerly, on to Pontypridd, Abercynon, Merthyr Tydfil, Brecon, Builth Wells, Rhayader, Llangurig, Llanidloes, Llandinam, Commins Coch, Mallwyd, Trawsfynydd, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Dolwyddelan and Betws-y-Coed, terminating at Llandudno. It is a dual carriageway between Cardiff and Merthyr (where it meets the Heads of the Valleys Road, the A465), and the section of this route into Cardiff is heavily used.
Bus and coach network
This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Traws Cymru routes need updating.(June 2020) |
Bus services are predominantly provided by the council owned Cardiff Bus and Newport Bus in the respective cities. Private sector operators in Wales include:
- Megabusbrand
- First Cymru, which offers services centred on Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot, Swansea, Llanelli, Carmarthen, Haverfordwest and South Pembrokeshire,[5] also providing a key link from Bridgend/Swansea to Cardiff[6]
- Arriva Buses Wales, which provides services through North Wales
- NAT Group, which provides services between East and West Cardiff, and from Central Cardiff to Cardiff Airport, Pontypridd, Barry and Bridgend
In North Wales, National Express offers services from major towns to Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, London, Newcastle, Leeds and Bradford.
In South Wales, National Express provides direct services from major towns and cities to
TrawsCymru is sponsored by the Welsh Government and offers intra-Wales routes, which are:
- Bangor to Aberystwyth via Porthmadog, Dolgellau and Machynlleth;
- Aberystwyth to Cardiff via Aberaeron, Lampeter Carmarthen and Swansea;
- Aberystwyth to Cardigan via Aberaeron;
- Wrexham to Barmouth via Llangollen, Bala and Dolgellau;
- Aberystwyth to Cardigan via New Quay; and
- Brecon to Newtown via Builth Wells and Llandrindod Wells.
Traffic pollution
A number of places in Wales suffer from air pollution.[7]
Ports
in 1776. The port still handles over 60% of the country's sea freight by weight- Milford Haven – 63.7%
- Port Talbot– 14.5%
- Holyhead – 7%
- Newport – 6.7%
- Cardiff – 4.2%
- Swansea – 1.2%
- Fishguard – 0.9%
- Barry – 0.8%
- Neath – 0.7%
- Mostyn – 0.3%
Ferries
Welsh ports provide passenger and freight ferry services. In 2005, 3.2 million sea passengers travelled to and from Ireland. Holyhead, the third largest passenger ferry port in the UK, handled over 2.3 million passengers; Fishguard and Milford Haven (Pembroke Dock) handled over 800,000 passengers a year.[1]
The Cardiff Waterbus runs along the River Taff in Cardiff, connecting the city centre with Cardiff Bay and Penarth.
SailRail
Transport for Wales, Iarnród Éireann, as well as Irish Ferries and Stena Line promotes SailRail[8][9]
From South Wales using
Canals
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There are canals in Wales.[10]
Rail
History
Wales' railway network developed in conjunction with that of the rest of the United Kingdom during the nineteenth century. The
The network was
Current services
The bulk of rail transport in Wales today is concentrated in the south, with
There are
A railway route linking
Urban rail
The only form of
Cable transport
Llandudno Cable Car operates a cable car to the Great Orme summit.
Tram
The only surviving first generation tram service within Wales is the Great Orme Tramway, a cable-hauled tramway in Llandudno which survives as a tourist attraction.
Cardiff, Swansea and Newport had extensive tram systems until the mid-20th century. Plans were mooted in the late 1990s for a modern tram system to serve Cardiff's urban areas, but these were shelved due to the costs of building and maintaining such a system.[18][19]
The world's first passenger tram service was the
The Llandudno and Colwyn Bay tramway, demolished in 1956, has a preservation society which has restored some original carriages.[21]
During the announcement of upgrades to the Welsh Valley Lines, a new
Heritage railways
Wales has a large number of heritage railways. Some of these were former industrial
Notable heritage railways include:
- The Talyllyn Railway, the first railway in the world to be saved by a preservation society
- The Snowdon Mountain Railway, the only rack and pinion railway in the United Kingdom
- The Ffestiniog Railway, the oldest surviving railway company in the world
- The Welsh Highland Railway, linking the Ffestiniog Railway at Porthmadog to Caernarfon
- The Gwili Railway, the first standard gauge preserved railway to operate in Wales
- The Vale of Rheidol Railway, the last steam railway owned by British Rail until 1989
Cycling
According to the National Survey for Wales 2017–18, almost 2% of the Welsh population cycled daily for active travel purposes. In total, 6% of the population actively travelled by bicycle at least once a week. Welsh Government data suggests that cycling in Wales is male-dominated; 12% of men said they cycle at least once per month for active travel purposes in 2017, compared to only 6% of women.[24]
In Wales, the Active Travel (Wales) Act was passed in 2013 which requires ministers and Welsh local authorities to 'map' active travel routes and networks across the country. It also requires Welsh Ministers to "report on active transport in Wales".[25]
In 2018,
Despite Cardiff's Cycleways scheme, Flintshire is Wales' top local authority for active travel by bicycle; in the National Survey for Wales 2017–18, almost 18% of respondents in Flintshire said that they travel at least once per month by bicycle, compared to just over 16% of respondents in Cardiff. Fewer than 4% of the respondents in Carmarthenshire, Newport, Denbighshire and Blaenau Gwent said that they actively travel by bicycle at least once per month.[24]
Airports
Cardiff Airport is the only major international and domestic airport for Wales.[29]
In South Wales the air travel market is estimated to be in the region of 3.5 million passengers, half of whom are served by Cardiff Airport while the remainder travels mainly to Heathrow, Bristol and Gatwick.[1] Over three-quarters of passengers passing through Cardiff Airport are from international flights, and the remainder are domestic passengers mainly travelling between Cardiff and Belfast, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Glasgow or Jersey. The North Wales air passenger market is small and Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham airports provide the main access.[1]
An air service with a flight time of around one hour between Cardiff Airport and Anglesey Airport started in May 2007, with two return flights a day, and attracted 40,000 passengers over the first 2½ years. It was originally run by Highland Airways but, after that company's closure, was taken over on a temporary basis by Isle of Man-based company Manx2 (now Citywing) in 2010.[30] The service is now operated by Eastern Airways. The service ceased operations in June 2022.[31]
Cardiff Airport is the sole airport in Wales for air freight, and is ranked 19th in the UK in terms of freight movement.[1] However, Airbus flies out some of the aircraft wings produced in its Broughton plant.[1]
See also
- Cycling in Cardiff
- List of railway stations in Wales
- Transport in the United Kingdom
- Traws Link Cymru
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l [1] One Wales: Connecting the Nation, The Wales Transport Strategy, Welsh Assembly Government, April 2008
- ^ "'Death trap' A55 cycle route in Conwy improved". BBC News. 21 June 2012.
- ^ "Toll Removal (Road Works) - Severn Bridges". Archived from the original on 16 December 2018.
- ^ Stagecoach South Wales Bus Routes Map Archived 6 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ FirstGroup UK Bus South & West Wales About Us
- ^ FirstGroup UK Bus South & West Wales
- ^ "House price fears growing air pollution". Wales News. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ "SailRail". Irishrail.ie. Archived from the original on 8 February 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ^ "SailRail". tfwrail.wales. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- ^ "UK Canal Map". Inland Waterways. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- ^ Rowland, Paul (4 January 2018). "The permanent damage Lord Beeching did to Wales and its rail network". Wales Online. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ According to the "Wales Route Utilisation Strategy – Draft for Consultation" published by Network Rail in 2008, there are 678 miles (1,091 km) of railways in Wales, not counting the "heritage" lines.
- ^ "Station Usage. Office of Rail Regulation". Archived from the original on 5 July 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
- ^ "Rail transport: April 2018 to March 2019". GOV.WALES. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ "More rail electrification plans unveiled | Rail.co.uk".
- ^ "New Welsh Government rail map raises campaigners' hope for a north-south railway". Nation.Cymru. 18 September 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
- ^ "Search & Buy Train Tickets with Arriva Trains Wales for travel in Wales and UK".
- ^ "Supertram test to ease traffic". 17 January 2002. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- ^ "Cardiff first with driverless taxi loop". the Guardian. 16 January 2002. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- ^ Early Days of Mumbles Railway
- ^ "Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Tramway Society (Ll&CBtramsoc)". swissitalianpaddlesteamers.com. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- ^ "South Wales Metro | Sub-topic". GOV.WALES. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- ^ "Great Little Trains of Wales Limited, twelve scenic steam railways".
- ^ a b "Walking and cycling in Wales: Active travel, 2017-18" (PDF). Welsh Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2019.
- ^ "Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013". Archived from the original on 11 May 2019.
- ^ "Cycleways". Cardiff City Council. Archived from the original on 22 May 2019.
- ^ "Cycleways Map" (PDF). Cardiff City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2019.
- ^ "Long distance rides in Wales". Sustrans. Archived from the original on 13 June 2019.
- ^ "Air transport: 2021". GOV.WALES. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ BBC News: New operator for Cardiff to Anglesey air service, 30 April 2010
- ^ "Suspended flights between Ynys Mon and Cardiff will not resume". Welsh Government. Retrieved 8 June 2022.