The Welsh train service named third busiest in the UK
Everyone has experienced that feeling of dread as a packed train arrives at the platform. The tentative step on board, as other passengers packed in like sardines, grudgingly shuffle backwards to create space.
It's a scene all too familiar in London but there is one route in Wales that competes with the UK's capital and is the busiest in this country. The afternoon train service named the busiest of them all has been included in a list of the 10 busiest trains in England in Wales in a list published by the UK Department for Transport, based on counts of passengers carried out in England and Wales between 18 September and 12 December 2023.
The 2:57pm train that begins at Gloucester in England but is busiest between Cardiff and Bridgend has come in third place in the list, and is the only service on the list that is not a London commuter service. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter
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Coming at the top of the list is the 7:33am from Bedford via Luton airport, London and Gatwick airport to Three Bridges in Sussex, and second is Chiltern Railways’ 7.46am departure from Prince’s Risborough in Buckinghamshire.
The route from Gloucester to Maesteg has 62 per cent more passengers than seats after it leaves the Welsh capital, and TfW says it is making timetable changes in December that it is “confident will spread out demand across several services”, according to the Independent.
Official statistics included in the list of the 10 busiest trains also showed the decline in afternoon departures from Cardiff in 2023 compared to 2022 was due to lower demand for long-distance services between Paddington and West Wales, even though the number of services remained similar in both years.
This is the full list of busiest trains in Wales and England:
7.33am Bedford to Three Bridges (point of maximum load: London St Pancras International, maximum load factor: 204%)
7.46am Prince’s Risborough to London Marylebone (London Marylebone, 165%)
2.57pm Gloucester to Maesteg (Cardiff Central, 162%)
6.10am Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo (Vauxhall, 157%)
5.46pm London Euston to Crewe (London Euston, 155%)
7.03am Bedford to Three Bridges (London St Pancras International, 155%)
6.30pm London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour (Vauxhall, 154%)
7.14am Alton to London Waterloo (Vauxhall, 152%)
6.14am Stourbridge Junction to London Marylebone (London Marylebone, 151%)
7.30am Bedford to Three Bridges (London St Pancras International, 150%).
Have you travelled on the 2:57pm train between Cardiff and Bridgend, or regularly travel on a busy train service in Wales? Let us know about your experiences in the comments below.
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