Transport for Wales Rail have revealed some of the shocking abuse staff receive online, while they are trying to help customers.

 

The Welsh train operating company operated by Keolis/Amey Wales Cymru Limited, commenced operating the Wales & Borders franchise on 14 October 2018.

The company have promised that rail passengers across Wales and its borders “can look forward to the transformation of their rail services thanks to a £5 billion investment” – that will fund significant improvements to the frequency and quality of Wales and Borders services, as well as the creation of the South Wales Metro.

The plans to improve services between 2018 and 2033 as part of the new franchise include:

  • Twelve refurbished Mark 4 carriages for the Holyhead to Cardiff Central Premier Service by the end of 2019, to replace the Mark 3 carriages. The first Mark 4 units were released by LNER in July 2019 following the introduction of Azuma services and are likely to be released to Transport for Wales by the end of 2019.
  • Introduction of a new hourly Liverpool to Llandudno and Shrewsbury service, and a new two-hourly Liverpool to Cardiff Central service from December 2022.
  • Introduction of a direct Manchester Airport to Bangor service from December 2022.
  • Introduce the new fleet of Civity diesel multiple units (DMUs) to the North Wales Coast line and other North Wales routes during 2022.
  • Introduce new Community Rail Partnerships on the North Wales Coast Line and the Crewe to Hereford line.

Despite the promises of improvement to rail services, unhappy customers have taken to Twitter to voice their dissatisfaction, but staff are frequently subject to abusive messages.

A message from Transport for Wales staff said: “We understand that delays can be extremely frustrating but please think before you tweet. We’re doing our best to help and reply as quickly as we can. Let’s make Twitter a nicer place to be.”

Liz Saville Roberts MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd responded: “No-one should have to face this sort of abuse in the course of work. This anonymous aggression needs to be called out.”