Organisers of the Cardiff Half Marathon have issued urgent advice to runners who are due to travel to the event by train. The Aslef union has called a strike for the day before the race, which takes place on Sunday, October 1, and there is also an overtime ban across the UK rail network on Friday, September 29, and from Monday, October 2, to Friday, October 6.
Every year thousands of runners head to Cardiff for the annual event and anyone planning to travel by train is being urged to "plan ahead and check before travelling". A statement from the organisers added: "You may wish to consider alternative travel arrangements such as travelling by coach."
Transport for Wales (TfW) is not involved in the industrial action. TfW services will be running but other train operators' services across the whole of Wales, England, and Scotland will be limited. Some of their services are likely to be extremely busy as a result of the severely-reduced timetable put in place by other operators.
Here are the train operators that are likely to be affected:
Half marathon organisers have messaged people taking part with information for alternative ways of travel and help with planning. They say the National Rail Enquiries real-time Journey Planner is currently showing the normal planned service for the strike days, which is subject to change. The amended timetables are expected to be showing correctly in Journey Planners at the following times:
- For journeys on September 29 and 30 check back on Friday, September 22
- For journeys from October 2-6 check back on Wednesday, September 27
Organisers have also pointed out that bus and coach services will be running from various cities into Cardiff over the race weekend with availability on Saturday, September 30, and Sunday, October 1. They say: "Additional services will likely be provided by National Express, Stagecoach and Megabus where possible because of the industrial action. Stagecoach also provide local buses in and out of Cardiff from various locations across southeast Wales and, for runners arriving from overseas, coach services are available to Cardiff from various UK airports via providers like National Express."
For anyone driving to the event there is a pre-bookable park and walk facility at the Cardiff City Stadium with a discount available to those lift-sharing in a minibus or coach. A statement added: "We’re disappointed that the strike action will impact the experience of runners travelling to Cardiff for the race and understand and share your frustration. We will continue to update runners if any additional information becomes available but advise trying to make alternative travel arrangements as soon as possible. As we are not in a position to advise on alternative transport options we would suggest speaking to the relevant transport operators as they will have the most up-to-date information and detailed advice available."
