King Charles opens new South Wales Metro Depot on Welsh visit
King Charles marked his 77th birthday with an official engagement in South Wales, joining Queen Camilla on Friday, November 14, to open the new South Wales Metro Depot at Taff’s Well.
During the visit, the King stepped into the driver’s seat of a tram-train, enjoying a short ride before meeting engineers, technicians, operational staff, and cleaning crews who maintain the 36-strong fleet at the state-of-the-art facility.
A video shared on the Royal Family’s official Instagram account, set to Oasis’s classic hit “She’s Electric,” captured the monarch in high spirits. “All aboard!” Buckingham Palace captioned the clip, celebrating His Majesty’s hands-on involvement.
“The King has officially opened the new South Wales Metro Depot in Taff’s Well, the home of the South Wales Metro Project,” the Palace added. The project includes electrifying 170 km of existing railway lines and upgrading the majority of stations, marking a major milestone for transport development across the region.
The tram-train King Charles rode is named Myddfai, a tribute to the Carmarthenshire village near his former Welsh home.
The visit highlighted the King’s long-standing connection to Wales and underscored the importance of modern, sustainable infrastructure to the nation’s future.
