New trains that were introduced to the Borderlands Line between Wrexham and Bidston have experienced “minor technical issues”, with trains also being vandalised in their first week.

Transport for Wales (TFW) introduced the Class 230 trains to the line on Monday, April 3 in an "soft lunch" to tackle issues. 

The trains are the first battery-hybrids in Wales, and were originally planned to be introduced in 2019, but have been delayed by four years.

TfW owns five three-carriage Class 230 trains, which each having over 120 seats and with a capacity for over 420 customers – a significant increase over previous trains.

The trains were introduced following weeks of disruption to the line due to maintenance being carried out on the Class 175 trains, which has seen rail replacement buses being used.

However, rail travellers who use the line have noticed that services on the Class 230 train hs faced disruption last week, which has led to cancellations on an already disrupted line.

One Wrexham resident, George Jones, said: “Rail fans in North Wales and Wirral have followed the pro-longed introduction of the new class 230 trains with interest as the propulsion technology was seen as challenging for the hilly Borderlands route.

"However, the news last week that a train service was finally to be offered on a two-hourly basis was welcomed as a step forward but, regrettably, the time keeping proved erratic, at best, and subsequent cancellations disappointing.

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“For a train service to be acceptable to the travelling public it has to be reliable, especially when offered as one train every two-hours frequency. For passengers waiting at Wrexham Central to be told their train is cancelled because it has been turned back at Wrexham General is annoying to say the least and hardly allows time to scamper across town to catch the return working. The rail replacement bus is a poor substitute for a train.”

Alexia Course, Transport for Wales’ Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We introduced the first Class 230 train into service last week as part of a ‘soft launch’, which provides us with the flexibility to monitor the trains and make any alterations or changes if needed. 

“We’ve experienced some minor technical issues which impacted services over the easter weekend and we’re now working to get these resolved, as well as introducing another Class 230 train next week.

“Unfortunately, some of our new trains have already been vandalised and we’ll be working closely with BTP to investigate further.”