The Changing Rail Scene in South Wales

South Wales has long been a popular destination for railway enthusiasts, and this book documents the many changes to the region’s rail scene in the last thirty years. The area’s industrial heartland has ensured a continuous procession of trains carrying a variety of freight traffic. Whilst 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. The 1990s will be remembered as the decade of privatisation. The assortment of freight trains on display before the arrival of the ubiquitous Class 66 saw the end of much of this variety of motive power is explored here. In particular, the English Electric Type 3s and Brush Type 4s which 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 rebranded as ‘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 UK capital. The long-serving ‘Pacers’ have also gone and there have been motive-power changes in the Valleys as well as on the main line.John Jackson draws on his substantial photographic archive to showcase the evolving South Wales rail scene.