Great Western Railway providing extra trains for Billy Joel concert goers

Great Western Railway (GWR) will run extra trains for Billy Joel fans heading home from Cardiff this Friday.

The train operator will provide nine additional services, offering more than 5,000 extra seats.

Trains are, however, expected to be very busy, with thousands of concert goers walking the short distance from the Principality Stadium to Cardiff Central station following the concert.

In total five services will run from Cardiff to Swansea from 2240, with nine services from Cardiff towards Newport (and beyond) from 2230:

2230 – Bristol Temple Meads (2320)

2242 – Newport (2257)

2300 – Newport (2316), Bristol Temple Meads (2345)

2315 – Newport (2328), Bristol Parkway (2349), Swindon (0012)

2322 – Newport (2335), Bristol Temple Meads (0003)

2330 – Newport (2342), Bristol Temple Meads (0024)

2340 – Newport (2352), Bristol Temple Meads (0026)

2343 – Newport (2358), Bristol Parkway (0026), Swindon (0044)

0013 – Newport (0026), Bristol Temple Meads (0056)

In a repeat of the queueing system in place for previous concerts this summer, people travelling east towards Newport will be asked to queue on the square in front of Cardiff Central station, rather than from Riverside Car Park.

GWR Customer Service Director, Rachel Geliamassi, said:

“We’re doing all we can to help customers home following the concert by providing additional trains alongside our normal timetable services.

“But as we’ve seen with previous concerts at the Principality Stadium this summer, trains do get very busy and there will be a need to queue outside the station following the gig.

“Safety of our customers is of the uppermost importance and we would encourage people to check journey times and connections at gwr.com/check and allow sufficient time to complete your journey home.”

Transport for Wales will be providing additional capacity where possible on routes in/out of Cardiff on Friday but trains are expected to be very busy, so customers should allow plenty of time for their journey.

Post-event queues for Valleys services will be to the rear of the station. Cardiff Queen Street will close at 21:30, except for accessible access and passengers that wish to travel to Cardiff Bay.

Revenue checks will be taking place at Cardiff throughout the day. People can visit tfw.wales or the new TfW app for the latest travel information.

The National Eisteddfod is also taking place in Pontypridd on Friday, so Valleys services will be busier than usual throughout the day.

Doors to the Principality Stadium open at 1700 and the concert is expected to finish around 2200.