Cardiff Crossrail
Cardiff Council and Transport for Wales (TfW) are working together to deliver a new tramway from Cardiff Central to Cardiff Bay, the first phase of Cardiff Crossrail. It’ll enhance connectivity between the city centre and the Bay, benefiting the wider city and region.
Subject to funding, the Cardiff Crossrail will eventually run from the northwest of the city, all the way to the east of the city connecting with the proposed Parkway railway station.
To start this process, the first phase of the scheme must be built between Cardiff Central and Cardiff Bay. This will finally ensure that Butetown is properly connected to the city centre, though the new tramway, providing further capacity for residents and visitors to access the wide range of attractions that Cardiff has to offer.
Background
Cardiff Crossrail phase 1 is part of the wider Cardiff Crossrail vision presented in the Transport White Paper, published by Cardiff Council in July 2019.
Cardiff Council, in partnership with TfW, secured £100 million of funding for Cardiff Crossrail phase 1a, the delivery of a tramway from Cardiff Central to Cardiff Bay. £50 million was secured from the UK Government, with the Welsh Government match funding a further £50 million for the project.
The scheme is fully aligned with our South Wales Metro aspirations. It’ll align with work already underway to build a new track on the Cardiff Bay line to allow faster and more frequent services using brand new tram-trains.
The scheme will deliver:
- A new two-platform station stop located in the southern car park of Cardiff Central railway station, with easy interchange at Cardiff Central station
- A new tramway from the southern car park at Cardiff Central station, crossing through Callaghan Square to join the existing Cardiff Bay line
- An additional third platform at Cardiff Bay railway station (in addition to the second, which is currently being built)
- Improvements to public spaces on the route to connect neighbouring communities, places and attractions
Future plans
Cardiff Council is working with TfW to explore the possibility of delivering a new connection from Cardiff Bay station to a brand-new station on Pierhead Street (Cardiff Crossrail phase 1b), which is subject to additional funding being secured.
Additional project drawings and information about the consultation process for this project is available at the Transport for Wales website:
