Arriva Trains Wales has announced that it is introducing extra Sunday trains to serve the Cynon Valley this December.

Four additional trains will be introduced from December 2017.

The 08:54 from Aberdare will be introduced. This means passengers can travel by train to Cardiff and arrive before 10 am.

Arriva Trains Wales has been working with AM Vikki Howells who, through a survey, showed that 95% of people in the area would like a more regular service on Sunday.

The new service will be in place on the 3rd, 10th and 17th of December. This is for an initial test for the demand.

The additional services mean there will be hourly services to Cardiff until 12:53. Services back from 15:41 to 19:41.

What did the officials say?

Arriva Trains Wales Managing Director Tom Joyner, said “We’ve listened to what our customers wanted and are delighted to be able to run these extra services in the build-up to Christmas. We’re really grateful to Vikki Howells AM for her work on this survey for her community.

“It will give more options for those traveling into Cardiff for their Christmas shopping, social events and for work. We’ll look closely at how successful this is as we look to make a business case to make them permanent. It’s vital we target our resources where they are most needed to best provide for the communities we serve.”

Cynon Valley AM Vikki Howells said: “Many constituents got in touch to tell me about the difficulties they faced in getting to and from Cardiff by rail on Sundays. I surveyed Cynon Valley residents on whether they wanted extra Sunday services – an overwhelming number of respondents said they did. I thank local people who took the time to express their views, as this helped me make the case with Arriva Trains Wales.

“The extra services announced for December certainly represents an early Christmas present. However, I hope these extra services are well-used so that Arriva can clearly see the need and make this a long-term arrangement”.

• Visit the Arriva Trains Wales Website
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