Operator: GWR
Headcode: 1B13
Route: PAD-SWA
Class: 1st
Seat: K09
Date: Saturday 19th November 2022
Back in December we took a trip to South Wales to visit some friends and attend a concert and, with little driving required whilst we were down there, decided to travel there and back by train. Whilst not as long as some journeys I’ve taken onboard IETs (read about the Highland Chieftain here), these would certainly fall in the top few and so we treated ourselves to first class to complete the journey in comfort.
Our journey began at the jewel in the crown of the Great Western Railway, Paddington station. The existing station was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and completed in 1854, with Paddington now being a Grade 1 listed building and largely unchanged from when it was built. The most recent change to the station is the construction of the Elizabeth Line station adjacent to the main building near platform 1, with this being designed to complement the main Victorian station.
With first class tickets we were able to access GWR’s first-class lounge, located on platform 1 and so headed here to pass some time. Part of the lounge is the former waiting room of Queen Victoria, however unfortunately this part was closed off during our visit leaving us to settle into the main part. With a mix of seating, I was able to get on some writing whilst Beth got comfy to read her book.
In terms of refreshments, the lounge had a mix of hot and cold drinks (although the latter was limited to coke, orange juice or water) and a selection of biscuits and packaged pain au chocolates. Not an wide selection, but certainly sufficient to keep us going for the hour or so until boarding was announced for our train about 15-minutes before departure.
Waiting for us over on platform 8 was a pair of five car class 800/0s, 800032 and 800036, with the latter leading the way along the Great Western and South Wales mainlines to Swansea. Our reserved seats were in coach K, located in the rear of the rear unit, resulting in a very short walk until we were settled and allowing plenty of time for people watching as the majority of other passengers passed the window on their way to seats further down the train.
GWR runs regular, half-hourly services from Paddington to South Wales throughout the week, with these alternating between terminating at Cardiff or Swansea. At the weekend these are reduced to hourly, with all services running through to Swansea, so our train was relatively full as we pulled out of Paddington one minute late at 1147.
The journey to Swansea was scheduled to take us just over 2 hours 45 minutes with 9 intermediate stops, the bulk of which would be in South Wales. Just over 20-minutes after leaving London we were calling at our first stop, and one which pretty much all GWR services to/from Paddington call at, Reading. Short stops at Didcot and Swindon followed and less than an hour after departure we were leaving the Great Western Mainline at Wooton Basset Junction and joining the South Wales Mainline.
At some point relatively early on in the journey, the onboard crew came around offering refreshments which included the usual choice of tea and coffee as well as, surprisingly, hot chocolate. Whilst the proportion of passengers that do not like tea or coffee must be quite low, the fact that GWR cater for those that don’t is a plus, especially when I’m travelling with one of that small proportion.
There was also a selection of non-alcoholic cold drinks (alcohol could be purchased from the standard class trolley), and snack boxes were handed out which included oat cakes, humus, a small piece of chocolate and a bag of olives. Thankfully I’m not particularly fussy when it comes to food, so I munched my way through the offering, however I did think that these were not the standard, wide-appeal, foods that you usually get in first class.
Our final stop in England was Bristol Parkway, which is located next to the large Hitachi depot at Stoke Gifford and is just a few miles from the eastern portal of the Severn Tunnel. Crossing under the River Severn takes just a couple of minutes and we were soon passing the industrial sidings at Llanwern on our way to the first stop in South Wales, Newport.
Whilst the least well-known of the cities in South Wales, Newport does have a claim to fame in being the location of one of the UK’s two remaining transporter bridges. The Newport Transporter Bridge was opened in 1906 with its design being required owing the low banks and tidal conditions of the River Usk. The bridge is now Grade I listed and as well as crossing the river via the suspended gondola, you can climb the towers and cross by the fixed upper deck, enjoying views over the city whilst you do so.
Our next stop was the main station of the Welsh capital, Cardiff Central, where the South Wales mainline is joined by the Valley and Vale of Glamorgan lines. Whilst we and the pair of class 800s were continuing on to Swansea, the vast majority of passengers seemed to only be travelling to Cardiff, with the train pretty much emptying during the stop at Cardiff Central.
As we departed to continue our journey west we passed Canton Depot, a train maintenance depot that had existed in some form since 1882 and is now the main depot for Transport for Wales (TfW) in south Wales. As we passed the depot is was clear to see the wide range of train classes operated by TfW, with various types stabled, including new class 197s units and class 67 locos. The latter haul former LNER mark 4 coaches between Cardiff and Holyhead or Manchester, providing a much more comfortable journey for passengers on these long distance services compared to the units from the 1990 that also operate on these routes.
A short stop at Bridgend was followed by us passing the large complex of industrial railways that make up the Port Talbot steelworks at Margam. It was interesting to see the sheer scale of the site as it is an site that I assist with managing services to/from at work and I always appreciate seeing some of the freight sector in real life as opposed to being numbers on a screen.
Stops at Port Talbot Parkway and Neath meant our journey was coming to an end and as we crossed the viaduct into Swansea, we passed two depots showing the development and subsequent stalled progress of the railway in the area. First up was the former Landore Traction Maintenance Depot, one of the homes of GWR’s now retired HSTs, which closed in 2018 when the HST fleet was withdrawn. This has since reopened as a rolling stock refurbishment centre, with work being undertaken on ScotRail class 156s and TfW class 153s.
The replacement for Landore TMD is Swansea Maliphant Depot, operated by Hitachi to maintain GWR’s class 800 fleet and constructed on the site of the former Maliphant carriage sidings. Within the depot is infrastructure for overhead line equipment (OLE) constructed as part of the Great Western Electrification Programme (GWEP). Unfortunately this is the only OLE infrastructure Swansea is likely to see any time soon, as the GWEP was cut back in 2017 to only cover the South Wales Mainline as far as Cardiff.
Swansea station itself is a terminus station opened in 1850, however not all services that call here actually terminate. Whilst the South Wales Mainline ends here, the West Wales Line starts here, carrying services out to Fishguard, Milford Haven and Pembroke Dock. Notably it is at Swansea that Heart of Wales line services to Shrewsbury begin, giving the station the record for the longest train announcements as the 30+ stops are announced in English and Welsh.
In conclusion, our journey west with GWR was comfortable, relaxing and punctual, with us arriving just 2 minutes late after a journey of 190 miles. The onboard catering was a bit disappointing, however is about what I expect for first-class at a weekend and is on par to many other operators. Most importantly, all of the staff we interacted with were helpful, friendly and overall great.
Lounge 3*
Seat/Facilities 4*
Food 2*
Service 5*
Punctuality 5*
Overall Rating 19/25 (read about my rating system here!)
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