COLLEGE students have been left furious and dismayed as they feel discriminated by the train company they use to travel to Hereford.

Transport for Wales (TfW) has been forcing students heading to and from Hereford Sixth Form College to use coach services instead of trains, meaning they often miss out on teaching due to the longer journey times.

The college principal has said it's having a detrimental impact on students, including on their mental health.

The students who travel to Hereford from Cwmbran, Pontypool and New Inn and Abergavenny in Wales for college are questioning why they are often barred from boarding trains despite them being largely empty.

People in England and Wales are encouraged to work from home where possible, with a number of areas in Wales under local lockdowns, but travel outside the areas is allowed for education.

'They discriminate against students'

Hereford Times:

Dan Williams, 17, catches the train from Pontypool each morning to go to the sixth form in Folly Lane. He is among the students regularly told to use a coach instead of a train.

He said: "Since we’ve returned to college, we’ve been put on buses going to Hereford and returning from home despite the trains being empty.

"They discriminate against students and limit the number of students on each carriage to 20 but will let other passengers on the train.

"We’ve tried contacting the train company on multiple occasions and so have parents but they won’t listen."

'It is going to impact their grades'

Hereford Times:

His criticism was echoed by Charlotte Palmer, 43, who has twins who started at the college in 2019.

Her son and daughter, Jake and Amber, have to travel on the coach each morning from Cwmbran, but she said they can be up to 45 minutes late to college which means they are missing valuable teaching time.

She said there has been three security guards at the station to stop college students getting on trains and making them use coaches instead.

"I think the issue a lot of parents have got is the fact Transport for Wales has said the reason they're not allowed on the train is social distancing," Miss Palmer added.

"I fully get and I'm fully on board with that, but there's no social distancing on the bus. It just seems it's acceptable for students not to socially distance but the general public has to.

"There's got to be a better solution for these students, I think it is going to impact on their grades. They are extremely tired, they've got mountains of work they're coming home with every evening and some days not far off four hours travelling. It's not great really."

'Following official guidance is our priority'

In response to concerns, a TfW spokesperson said the company, which was awarded the contract for the Wales and Borders franchise in 2018, was following the most up-to-date guidance from the UK and Welsh Governments. It says students from the same establishment do not have to maintain a physical distance.

"Where we have tried to encourage students to travel on a particular service, this is in order to maintain bubbles for specific institutions wherever possible, in line with government requirements," they said.

“All educational establishments were made fully aware of the reduction in rail capacity before any season tickets were processed and we’re continuing to fulfil our commitment and provide travel for all young people with a mix of buses and trains for the time being.

“We’ve recently sourced an additional carriage, to make one of the busiest arrivals (08.54am) into Hereford a three-carriage train and we will continue to review and improve all our options.

“We appreciate cooperation during these challenging times but safety and following official guidance is our priority.”