Get the biggest stories sent straight to your inbox Sign up for regular updates and breaking news from WalesOnline Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

London Underground trains could soon swap Kensington for Coryton as railway managers seek new ways to reduce overcrowding in Wales.

Arriva Trains Wales is planning to open talks with Vivarail, a small company which has bought scores of surplus underground coaches and started converting them from electric to diesel power.

The trains could provide welcome relief for ATW passengers as early as next spring – years before the Valley Lines electrification scheme brings in a new fleet of trains.

'We really do need some additional trains'

At a recent transport conference in Cardiff ATW managing director Ian Bullock said that Vivarail had spotted that no new diesel trains had been ordered in Britain for several years. “We’re reaching a point where we really do need some additional trains,” he said.

He told a Vivarail representative at the event: “We are going to come and see you.”

RELATED:Bank Holiday weekend rail strike called off following new pay offer

Vivarail’s trains are larger than the small tube trains which run in tunnels deep beneath London.

They used to run on the District Line, connecting areas such as Richmond, Putney and Wimbledon to Kensington, Paddington and Westminster.

Vivarail is fitting several Ford diesel engines, as used in Transit vans, to each train. The trains were built in the early 1980s and modernised 10 years ago.

Trains will accelerate rapidly

The company predicts that the trains, which feature lightweight aluminium bodies, will be able to accelerate rapidly, making them ideal for routes with frequent station stops.

RELATED:What the electrification of the Valleys Lines means for commuters - and the rest of Wales

Most of the Valley Lines fall into that category, as does the route from Wrexham Central to Shotton, in Flintshire.

Vivarail’s designers are developing a choice of train interiors to suit different routes, including rural lines. Alice Gillman, of Vivarail, told the Western Mail that the trains would be ideal for remoter parts of ATW’s network.

“One of the benefits is that because the trains don’t require going back to the depot for maintenance, they could be put on the branch lines and maintained there,” she said. “You’re not taking trains off the line for routine maintenance.”

Ideal for short trips

Swansea-based transport consultant John Davies said one candidate for the trains could be the Heart of Wales line, from Llanelli to Craven Arms via Llandovery and Llandrindod.

The rural service between Llandudno, Betws-y-Coed and Blaenau Ffestiniog might also be suitable, he said. ATW currently provides the service using a Valley Lines Sprinter train, which periodically has to return to Cardiff for maintenance and be replaced with another Sprinter.

Mr Davies said other options included Carmarthen to Tenby and Pembroke Dock, and the smaller Valley Lines routes in the Cardiff area, such as the Coryton line.

Using the Vivarail trains in rural Wales would release Sprinters to lengthen trains on the Valley Lines or other routes where overcrowding occurs. Alternatively, the displaced Sprinters could enable ATW to provide additional services.

The Welsh Government has already pledged additional services between Holyhead and Cardiff and on the Ebbw Vale line, after two track capacity upgrades are completed.

Maximum speeds of 60mph

However, Mr Davies said the former underground trains would have a maximum speed of 60mph and this could be a limitation where they would have to fit in between trains running at 75mph or higher.

He pointed to the Heart of Wales line service’s continuation along main lines from Llanelli to Swansea and from Craven Arms to Shrewsbury.

“On the Pembroke Dock branch, the service isn’t self-contained. They [former underground trains] would have this speed problem on the line to Swansea, where the maximum speed is 75mph,” said Mr Davies, a former British Rail manager.

“The slower trains would not create delays for following services, because that section of railway was not intensively used, but he added: “It would slow the schedules down a bit.”

This comment was echoed by Peter Absolon, a rail user who lives near Milford Haven. He said the lower maximum speed would not be a problem on the Pembroke Dock branch line but would be a significant disadvantage east of Whitland.

“Do we really want to have these trains just on the branch and passengers changing at Whitland? That seems a step backwards.”

Mr Absolon, a member of the Pembrokeshire Rail Travellers’ Association, said the former underground trains would be better suited to the Valley Lines because of their fast acceleration and the frequent station stops there.