TRANSPORT for Wales has explained the decision behind not putting on additional trains for Wrexham fans ahead of tomorrow's Welsh derby. 

The Reds head south to face Newport County tomorrow (January 20) in League Two, with many fans set to travel by train. 

Wrexham were initially allocated just over 1,000 tickets before an additional 500 were made available earlier this week. 

The extra tickets prompted questions from fans as to whether additional train services would be put on for Wrexham fans like there were when Newport County visited the SToK Cae Ras in December. 

After being told there wouldn't be extra services to and from tomorrow's game, questions began to be asked, which led to the city's MS Lesley Griffiths demanding an explanation from TfW.

She said: “As soon as it became clear no additional trains would be running to cater for fans travelling to the Newport County vs Wrexham AFC match on Saturday (20 January), despite there being additional trains in place for the reverse fixture just last month, I was keen to get to the bottom of the issue."

In response, TfW explained the reason behind the decision was due to an expected lack of use for the additional services. 

A spokesperson for Transport for Wales said: “Ahead of Saturday’s Newport County v Wrexham match we’ve worked closely with the with British Transport Police, local police, dedicated football officers and the football clubs to assist our service planning.

“Based on the information provided by these partner agencies we are anticipating approximately 200 fans to travel by rail and this can be safely accommodated within the existing timetable. Therefore, we have taken the decision not to run an additional service, but will be adding additional capacity where possible to the existing services running before and after the game.

“Services will be closely monitored and a full crowd management plan in place at both stations.

“An additional service from/to Newport was added for the fixture in Wrexham in December, but the number of customers using the return service was extremely low and this data has helped to assist our planning for Saturday’s match.

“We continue to work closely with Wrexham and this season have run an additional service for every home fixture and an additional service for fans travelling for the away fixture at Shrewsbury earlier this month.”

The TfW explanation was welcomed by Wrexham's MS, who added: “I am grateful to Transport for Wales for providing me with a speedy response and thorough explanation. 

"The letter clarifies how the decision was reached and I hope Transport for Wales’ commitment to ‘strengthening trains for the key services’ on the day will ensure the loyal fans travelling down to Newport have a smooth and stress-free journey.”

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The trains available for Wrexham fans heading to Newport tomorrow are as follows: 

Pre-match

  • 08:35 departing Wrexham General – arriving at Newport 11.00
  • 09.46 departing Wrexham General, change required at Shrewsbury – arriving at Newport 12.29
  • 10.35 departing Wrexham General – arriving at Newport 12.59

Post-match

  • 17:36 departing Newport – arriving at Wrexham General 20.04
  • 18.09 departing Newport, change required at Shrewsbury – arriving at Wrexham General 21.03
  • 19.56 departing Newport – arriving at Wrexham General at 22.20