Fantasy Metro

Obviously we have thread(s) on the actual (i.e. vaguely planned) metro system, but I thought it would be nice to discuss what we would like to see, given the power, the money and a relatively blank canvas. But grounded in some kind of practical reality.

My concept retains electrified railways on the Valleys / Penarth / Barry / Airport routes and on the mainline, shown as the thin lines on the map.

The new/changed lines use tram-trains so that there are seamless links from the outer suburbs through the city and out again. It has two circular lines (shown in purple and green), two E-W lines and one N-S line. The blue line operates in loops at either end to maximise coverage.

Generally stations are spaced no more than 1km apart so that large chunks of the population are within 500m of a stop.

It's probably riddled with mistakes, but it was fun (sad) to draw.

I'm currently drawing a similar thing using autocad and a map of Cardiff - will post my results when complete!

Putting aside the fact that this is a complete fantasy (it would almost certainly fail any cost-benefit test, even if you didn't have to trade it off against other projects) the main problem I have is the lack of any direct North-South route on the main such corridor in Cardiff. That is along the A470. Getting from Whitchurch to the city is rather convoluted on this system. So sticking with the realm of fantasy, I would add an additional link from Taffs Well to Coryton to Gabalfa, and then on through the city centre.

Could I have a fantasy branch line off the Penarth fantasy line over to Western, you can use the fantasy barrage?

Is this fantasy metro overground or is it a fantasy underground Metro?
I don't want to be having the wrong sort of fantasy you know!

Getting from Whitchurch to the city is rather convoluted on this system. So sticking with the realm of fantasy, I would add an additional link from Taffs Well to Coryton to Gabalfa, and then on through the city centre.

That would be fairly easy to do. Most of The Glamorganshire Canal corridor is fairly clear apart from the section between Tongwynlais and Taffs Well where it's taken by the A470. You could probalby fit an additional line on the existing rail corridorfor the run through the Taff gorge to Fforest Farm thence Melingriffith (Jnctn with Coryton line) > Hayley Park > Ysgol Glantaf playing fields > Gabalfa Park > Taff Trail > Blackweir > North Road car parks.

Assuming this is all rail lines there is no way that Heath High Level could run to Heath Low Level!

A connection from Coryton to the line above Radyr was on the Cardiff Council transport plan years ago but seems to have disappeared off current Metro proposals. Seems relatively easy to me (the line would need to be re-doubled as well) and would justify more frequent trains on the Coryton line, almost certainly leading to a lot more usage.

Assuming this is all rail lines there is no way that Heath High Level could run to Heath Low Level!

It would be like the Aberystwyth funicular

How about massive multi-storey Park & Ride schemes at Taffs Well (Opposite the station car park) serving commuters from the valleys and at Junction 33 of the M4 (next to the services) serving the eastbound M4 and A4119 Llantrisant Road. If this was a reasonable cost say £3 a day, it would relieve a lot of traffic entering the city, but the capacity would need to be high and the bus connection frequency every 10 mins or so especially at rush hour.