Transport for Wales
Transport for Wales has bought 30 Mk 4 coaches including some once allocated to Grand Central’s aborted West Coast Main Line open-access operations, which it plans to use on a Swansea-Manchester service from December 2022. It made the announcement on 7 June, when its inter-city Holyhead-Cardiff train resumed operation.
The Holyhead-Cardiff service uses former LNER Mk 4s and DVTs with DB Cargo Class 67s providing traction. Both it and the Swansea-Manchester service include First Class carriages, buffet car, free Wi-Fi, and accessible seating, toilets and baby changing facilities.
The extra Mk 4s were acquired with funding from the Welsh Government and will run as four five-coach sets.
- For more on this story, read the July 2021 edition of Modern Railways.
