On the 6th February
the 6 Nations rugby internationals kick off, rugby fans will prepare themselves
for over crowded trains and the usual excuses from the rail franchise holders.
On Friday 28thFebruary Wales play France. Rugby fans will face the
ordeal of a Friday night international match, with an 8pm kick-off and the
logistical perfect storm that awaits them.
Simply getting to (and from) Cardiff
on a Friday evening, with the lack of late trains, and scheduled maintenance –
may more than try fans patience. It will be grim for Welsh Rugby fans,
travelling south and east to Cardiff before kick-off, but it may be even
grimmer afterwards when they try to get home.
Bitter experience relayed by
supporters (and would be rail travellers) tells me that the franchise holders
will run short trains, when these trains reach Abergavenny, Pontypool, Cwmbran,
Chepstow, Caldicot, Severn Tunnel Junction and Newport (not to mention
Hereford, Lydney and Gloucester) they will be so full that passengers cannot
board them.
Prepare for the usual excuses from Arriva Trains Wales as to why
this overcrowding problem happens and how it will be avoided next time. The
reality is that the short-term rental costs of hiring extra trains would be
cost prohibitive. The day the rail franchise moves to a not for dividend profit
cannot come soon enough.
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