Earlier this month we brought you photos of the delivery of one of the Stadler built Tram-Trains which are set to enter service from later this year on Cardiff Metro services. A number of the vehicles have now arrived in South Wales and they are making themselves at home at the new purpose built Taffs Well Depot.
£100 million is being invested into the construction of Taffs Well Depot, which will eventually be home to 36 of the new Citylink Tram-Trains along with 400 staff. It will also be home to a Control Centre. The depot is now connected to the mainline and a number of the Tram-Trains are now in situ.
The Citylink Tram-Trains are being built at Valencia, Spain by Stadler and are just one of the models of new trains being introduced in major investment for Transport for Wales. The Tram-Trains will be used on Cardiff Metro services and whilst there are plans in the future for an extension through the streets of Cardiff they will initially just be used on normal rail services, albeit with infrastructure improvements.
There were at least 11 of the Tram-Trains in the yard at the depot on this visit. That included 398 004, 006, 007, 008, 009, 010, 011, 012 and 014.
A general view of the depot complex. 398 007 is on the right and is used when new deliveries are made to shunt them from Radyr Station.
398 008 is closest to the camera with 398 014 on the far side in this view. This also shows that the two closest vehicles have received a small yellow section on the coupler covers. This is only temporary during nighttime testing ahead of an upgrade of their headlights. (All Photographs by David Mee, 10th February 2024)