During five weeks in May and June, nearly 60,000 concert-goers travelled home from Cardiff on 150 extra services laid on by Transport for Wales, Great Western Railway, and Cross Country Trains.
Concerts by Beyonce, Harry Styles, and Coldplay drew in fans from north, west, and south Wales as well as Bristol, London, Gloucester, Birmingham and Hereford to the Welsh capital.
After the concerts, 58,851 travelled home safely by train the same night, whilst several thousand stayed over in Cardiff and travelled home the following day.
To ensure the large numbers of people could be managed safely, each event was treated as a ‘Category A' and a dedicated event plan was in place. All the mid-week concerts finished at about 10:30 pm, which required extra services to be planned to fit in with the normal timetable.
The next major events in the Principality Stadium are in August when Wales play England and South Africa in warm-up matches for the Rugby World Cup.
Special Events Manager for Transport for Wales, Jonathan Goode, said: “We love seeing major events in Cardiff and there is always a brilliant atmosphere in the city.
“Mid-week nighttime concerts are always a challenge as people want to get home the same night for work and school the next morning, but on a usual timetable, there would only be a few services left.
“So we do our best to put on as many extra trains and carriages as we can deliver and we're really proud that together with our rail industry partners and the BTP that we were able to get 60,000 people home safely.”
GWR Customer Service & Operations Director, Richard Rowland, said: “Cardiff Central was incredibly busy following these concerts and we're really proud to have come together as part of the railway family to help take people home safely.
“Being able to provide additional trains alongside our normal timetable services made a big difference and I'd like to say a big thank you for the patience shown by customers as we helped to manage queues following the events.”
Superintendent Andy Morgan for British Transport Police in Wales said: “Major event management can be complex at times, and often includes tens of thousands of additional passengers travelling across the rail network to and from Cardiff on the same day.
“We plan well in advance and we strategically place our uniform and plain-clothed officers where we know they will best keep the travelling public and rail colleagues safe aboard trains and at stations.
“We review every event to ensure we identify any areas for improvement and adapt the next plan accordingly, and we always do this alongside all the key partners, as this is without doubt a team effort.”
Nick Millington, route director for Network Rail Wales & Borders, added: “It's great to see the railway industry in Wales come together to get thousands of people in and out of Cardiff for these incredible events.
“Working with our industry partners, we are determined to continue to enable the mass transport of passengers for such events, keeping people safe and providing an enjoyable and timely service.”
