Cardiff Parkway?

[whole diary]

[Bmblbzzz]

A new £120 million park and ride station in Wales' capital will run four services to Bristol every hour.

Under the proposals for the ambitious scheme , bosses hope to launch 12 train services an hour – 24 in and out – including two to London and four to Temple Meads - that's one every 15 minutes to our city.

Cardiff Parkway is expected to welcome more than 800,000 passengers and aims to have significant impact on reducing car congestion, reports Wales Online.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/local-news/first-look-120m-new-cardiff-3560012

First I've heard of it. How real is this? Well:

Subject to planning, work on both projects is expected to start next year, with the station and a first phase of 300,000 sq ft of 900,000 sq ft of development at Cardiff Hendre Lakes, completed in 2023.

Planning permission to construction site in a year sounds ambitious to me. But does this mean it's gone through GRIP^▸ (Guide to Railway Investment Projects)?

“Our plans are at a stage where we want to hear from people in the local community about how the project could benefit them.

and

A formal consultation will be launched early next year.

So I think that's a no.

But that's just a report in the Bristol Post. And it does say it has the support of the Welsh Government, FWIW^▸ (for what it's worth). So how real is this and what else is known about it?

[Celestial]

It has been in the planning for a couple of years, and is certainly not "new news".  But the scale seems to be growing, particularly all the development around it. As does the cost. There's a claim that commuters from Llanrumney and St Mellons will be able to get a train in to Cardiff in 7 minutes, instead of 50 minutes by bus.  But once all that development is built, I wonder how long they will take to get to the station, park and walk to the platforms. And how much more it will cost.   

[Bmblbzzz]

So it is "A Thing" then, just I haven't heard of it. Or in fact if it's to be in St Mellons I have heard talk of it but not under the Parkway name. Thanks.

[johnneyw]

Living in Bristol and immensely enjoying my explorations of Cardiff by rail, I've noticed the comparative paucity of stations on the eastern side of the city. This should go some way to give the local network some balance and be a boost to the nascent South Wales Metro. Good news and from what I've read, another sort of example of JFDI^▸ (just flipping do it (polite version))?

[Wizard]

If it does get built, I hope it doesn’t get called Cardiff Parkway. The announcements at Paddington would sound ridiculous.

“Calling at Reading, Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Bristol Parkway, Newport, Cardiff Parkway, Cardiff Central, Bridgend, Port Talbot Parkway, Neath and Swansea.”

Way too many parkways. Call it Cardiff East or St. Mellons.

[mjones]

I agree. I also feel that both Didcot and Port Talbot should lose the Parkway name as they are within their respective towns unlike the other out of town stations.

[grahame]

From Wales Online

Plans for £120m new parkway train station in Cardiff on hold as Welsh Government calls in decision

The Cardiff Parkway Station and associated Hendre Lakes business park now has to wait for the Welsh Government's decision

Hopes of building a new £120m mainline train station on the outskirts of Cardiff are on hold after the Welsh Government called in the project. The decision means that final planning approval must now wait for the recommendation of an inspector appointed to assess the project. Welsh Government ministers will make the final decision.

The call in comes despite the Welsh Government owning a 10% stake in the Cardiff Parkway station development and associated Hendre Lakes business park. The plans were given planning approval by Cardiff Council back in April with the hope that work could start almost immediately.