• Save the date

    • Please see list of events below which may impact rail services.

    • Events at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff:

      • Sunday 05 May 2024 - Bruce Springsteen

      • Tuesday 11 June 2024 - P!NK

      • Tuesday 18 June 2024 - Taylor Swift

      • Tuesday 25 June 2024 - Foo Fighters

      • Saturday 06 July 2024 - Monster Trucks

      • Friday 09 August 2024 - Billy Joel

      • Saturday 17 August 2024 - Speedway GP

      • Sunday 10 November 2024 - International Rugby

      • Sunday 17 November 2024 - International Rugby

      • Saturday 23 November 2024 - International Rugby

      • Saturday 22 February 2025 - 6 Nations (Mens) Wales v Ireland

      • Saturday 15 March 2025 - 6 Nations (Mens) Wales v England

    • Events at Cardiff Castle:

      • Saturday 08 June 2024 - Fisher in Bute Park

      • Friday 14 June 2024 - The Smashin Pumpkins & Weezer

      • Thursday 20 June 2024 - Crowded House

      • Tuesday 02 July 2024 - Avril Lavigne

      • Wednesday 03 July 2024 - The National

      • Friday 05 July - Saturday 06 July 2024 - Manic Street Preachers & Suede

      • Sunday 07 July 2024 - JLS

      • Wednesday 10 July 2024 - Rick Astley

      • Friday 12 July 2024 - Idles

      • Wednesday 17 July 2024 - Noel Gallagher High Flying Birds

      • Thursday 18 July 2024 - Madness C’est Lavie

      • Friday 19 July 2024 - Catfish & The Bottlemen

      • Friday 26 July 2024 - Tom Grennan

      • Saturday 27 July 2024 - Depot in the Castle. Anne Marie

    • Football:

      • Saturday 27 April 2024 - Cardiff v Middlesborough at Cardiff City Stadium

      • Saturday 27 April 2024 - Shrewsbury v Leyton Orient at New Meadow, Shrewsbury

      • Saturday 27 April 2024 - Wrexham AFC v Stockport at Wrexham

      • Saturday 04 May 2024 - Swansea City v Millwall FC at Swansea

      • Friday 06 September 2024 - Wales v Turkey

      • Monday 14 October 2024 - Wales v Montenegro

      • Tuesday 19 November 2024 - Wales v Iceland

    • Chester Races:

      • Wednesday 08 May - Friday 10 May 2024

      • Saturday 25 May 2024

      • Friday 14 June - Saturday 15 June 2024

      • Saturday 29 June 2024

      • Friday 12 July - Saturday 13 July 2024

      • Saturday 27 July 2024

      • Sunday 4 August 2024

      • Saturday 31 August 2024

      • Friday 13 September - Saturday 14 September 2024

      • Saturday 21 September 2024

    • Other Events:

      • Saturday 04 May - Monday 6 May 2024 - Llandudno Extravaganza

      • Sunday 05 May 2024 - Comedy Festival Machynlleth

      • Thursday 09 May - Sunday 12 May 2024 - Ludlow Spring Festival

      • Saturday 11 May 2024 - Prom Xtra, Colwyn Bay

      • Saturday 18 May 2024 - Beer Heroes, Chester

      • Saturday 18 May 2024 - Swansea Pride

      • Saturday 25 May - Monday 27 May 2024 - In it Together Festival, Margam, Port Talbot

      • Saturday 01 June 2024 - Judgement Day, Cardiff City Stadium

      • Thursday 06 June 2024 - Take That & Olly Murs, Swansea.com Stadium

      • Thursday 13 June - Sunday 16 June - Gottwood, Angelsey

      • Saturday 15 June 2024 - Caerphilly Pride

      • Saturday 15 June 2024 - Barry Pride

      • Saturday 22 June - Sunday 23 June 2024 - Cardiff Pride

      • Friday 28 June - Saturday 29 June 2024 - Glastonselfy, Crosskeys

      • Friday 05 July - Sunday 07 July 2024 - Cardiff Bay Food & Drink Festival

      • Friday 05 July 2024 - Alderfest, Shrewsbury

      • Friday 05 July 2024 - Shania Twain, Chepstow Racecourse

      • Saturday 06 July 2024 - Swansea Airshow

      • Saturday 06 July 2024 - Tom Jones, Chepstow Racecourse

      • Tuesday 09 July 2024 - Hozier, Chepstow Racecourse

      • Saturday 13 July 2024 - Let’s Rock Shrewsbury

      • Sunday 14 July 2024 - JLS, The Quarry, Shrewsbury

      • Monday 22 July - Thursday 25 July 2024 - Royal Welsh Show, Builth Wells

      • Friday 26 July 2024 - Steelhouse Festival, Ebbw Vale

      • Saturday 27 July - Sunday 28 July 2024 - Glastonbarry, Barry

      • Saturday 03 August - Saturday 10 August 2024 - National Eisteddfod of Wales, Pontypridd

      • Thursday 15 August - Monday 19 August 2024 - Greenman Festival, Abergavenny
      • Saturday 17 August 2024 - Chester Pride
      • Thursday 22 August 2024 - New Order, Alexandra Head, Cardiff Bay
      • Thursday 22 August - Sunday 25 August 2024 - Creamfields, Daresbury, Cheshire
      • Friday 23 August 2024 - Big Tribute Festival, Aberystwyth
      • Friday 23 August - Monday 26 August 2024- Shrewsbury Folk Festival
      • Saturday 24 August 2024 - Becky Hill, Alexandra Head, Cardiff Bay
      • Friday 30 August - Sunday 01 September 2024 - Llandudno Pine Festival
      • Friday 30 August - Sunday 01 September 2024 - Nantwich Food Festival
      • Sunday 01 September - Sunday 08 September 2024 - Cardiff Freshers Week
      • Saturday 07 September 2024 - Save the Race, Chepstow Racecourse
      • Friday 13 September - Sunday 15 September 2024 - Ludlow Food Festival
      • Saturday 21 September - Sunday 22 September 2024 - Abergavenny Food Festival
      • Sunday 22 September 2024 - Ironman Wales, Tenby
      • Friday 04 October - Saturday 05 October 2024 - Oktoberfest, Quarry Park, Shrewsbury
      • Sunday 06 October 2024 - Cardiff Half Marathon
      • Friday 01 November 2024 - Caerphilly Fireworks
      • Friday 01 November 2024 - Barry Fireworks
      • Thursday 21 November 2024 - Beaujolais Day
      • Monday 02 December 2024 - Llandudno Christmas Parade
         

Upcoming events

Keeping our customers safe during events

Major events can result in more people than usual using our services. We’ll take extra steps to keep our customers travelling safely and reliably.

  • How do you decide which queues move and who has to wait outside?

    • Our queuing system

      Our industry-leading queuing system is designed to allow customers’ access to trains on a first come first served basis and we release each queue according to the space available on the next service, holding the queue until the next train is due.

      If we have to ask customers to wait outside stations for longer than we would like, we always give out waterproof ponchos.

      This helps make the experience as comfortable as possible for everyone whilst still getting them home safely.

  • How do I know what’s happening on the day?

    • Communication with customers is a key part of the event day operation.

      On the day we have high numbers of staff available to provide direct information, we have extra station announcers to ensure the information is regular and consistent, and we even operate a specific twitter feed to provide live updates from the station.

      The Twitter feed is managed by a member of our event team, based in our Crowd Management Centre, and is by far the best source of live information on an event day if you have access to twitter.

      Before travelling, it is also important to check our website, which has a specific page for each event.

      Check our events page to find information on the plan of the queuing system, details of any additional train services, and other useful advice such as how long customers can expect to queue, disabled access and the location of public toilets.

  • Why do I have to wait outside the station?

    • Crowd management

      The best way that we can safely manage the high number of customers is to implement crowd management procedures before and after the events, such as queuing systems and restricted movement within stations.

      We employ crowd management professionals to manage the flow of customers on the ground, and they are supported by a team of competent and experienced railway staff who provide customer assistance on the platforms, and coordinate the operation in the crowd management control centre.

      As you can imagine, if all the customers were permitted to enter the station without any form of crowd control there would be safety risks in terms of over-crowding on platforms, and customers being prevented from boarding their desired train services

  • Why don’t you put on more carriages on an event day?

    • We spend up to three months in advance of a fixture planning the train service and crowd management.

      This includes the provision of extra carriages and services on the most popular routes taking people to and from these locations. All this is done with consideration of the limitations of the fleet we have at our disposal.

      As an example, the impact a 72,500 capacity stadium has on Cardiff Central Railway station, given its location and the benefits of using rail travel as opposed to road, means that this can result in a significantly higher number of customers using the station on an event day.

      As a general indication of the popularity of services, prior to events at Cardiff, around 30,000 customers can arrive at the station before the event, and up to 40,000 customers return to the station to get home afterwards. During these event days, the depots are empty, as every train at our disposal is out in service, unless undertaking absolutely essential maintenance work.

 

Just the ticket

Why not listen to how we prepare for major events on our Just the Ticket podcast.