Ed Sheeran: Travel and ticket warning for Cardiff concerts
Image copyright Getty Images Ed Sheeran fans have been told to plan ahead and arrive early for his record-breaking Cardiff concerts amid travel fears and heightened ticket scrutiny.
The Grammy award winning superstar will become the first performer to play four successive nights at the Principality Stadium, starting on Thursday.
No trains will run to London after any night while there is no Valley Line trains after Sunday's concert.
Fans who bought tickets from re-sale sites will be offered genuine tickets.
The Thinking Out Loud singer's team revoked tickets from known touts and cancelled tickets listed on re-sale sites.
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Music lovers who had bought from those sites - often at vastly inflated prices - will be given help in claiming refunds at the box office and will be offered the chance of buying genuine tickets.
Sheeran imposed strict conditions on fans attending his 18-date UK stadium tour, which ends with four sell-out nights in Cardiff, including:
- Names printed on tickets, with ID required at the door
- A maximum of four tickets per customer
- Tickets listed for resale to be cancelled
- Any tickets bought by a "business or trader" to be cancelled
Plan ahead
Fans have been advised to plan ahead for their journey to Cardiff as last trains to destinations such as London, Birmingham, Portsmouth and Aberdare could leave before the concert is due to finish at 22:30 BST.
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As well as no services to London Paddington after the Sheeran gig because of an unexpected Severn Tunnel closure, there will be just one service to Cardiff from London an hour before the concert - and that will take 40 minutes longer than usual.
Services from London will not call at Bristol and Cardiff trains coming from England's south coast will terminate at Bristol Parkway where a rail replacement bus service will take passengers to Newport for onward trains to Cardiff.
After the concert, trains to Newport and west Wales will run as normal while rail replacement buses will run directly from Cardiff Central to Bristol Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads.
Arriva Trains Wales has also warned passengers attending Sunday's event, there will be no trains to towns like Barry, Caerphilly, Pontypridd, Ebbw Vale, Treherbert and Carmarthen after the concert.
No extra capacity
While there will be extra services to Swansea and Newport after the gig, Arriva says it has no extra capacity or resources to add more trains on the Valley lines.
"We won't be able to put on additional trains on the Sunday night following the late finish time of the concert," said Bethan Jelfs of Arriva.
"Running additional services late on Sunday would mean having to cancel Monday morning commuter services."
Transport expert Prof Stuart Cole said while he "sympathises" with Arriva, he said adding extra capacity on Sunday "is not easy but it is possible,"
"Especially because they've had a year to plan for it," he said.
"If Cardiff wants to be a big event city which can regularly attract acts like Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Beyonce etc, they need to be able to get people in and out of the city efficiently on public transport.
"The problem on Sunday will be rolling stock and drivers will be out of place for the following morning rush hour, but with a little extra planning Arriva could have come up with a solution."
The Welsh government said it expected Arriva to "maximise their services when major events are staged at the Principality Stadium".
A spokeswoman said officials had worked with the company to ensure extra staff and services, but were advised technical issues prevented an extended service running on the Sunday.
It is not the first time there has been travel problems for an event in Cardiff.
Rugby World Cup organisers held an inquiry into chaos after a game between Ireland and Canada in 2015 as Great Western Railway underestimated passenger numbers.
Boxing fans attending Anthony Joshua's most recent fight at the Principality Stadium were also affected as the last trains out of Cardiff left after the fight finished.
In the city
Road closures will begin as early as 07:00, the Principality Stadium gates open at 17:00 and roads in the centre will close at 17:30.
Security to the concert is tight - only small bags are allowed in the stadium while laptops, selfie sticks and umbrellas are banned.
Cardiff buses are being diverted out of city centre bus stops while Arriva has warned passengers train services in the Cardiff area will be busy all day and "extra capacity will be added where possible".
Cardiff Night Marshals will be on for all four nights of the concerts, rather than just the usual Friday and Saturday service.
