Submitted by coto524, who says:

This is a map for the Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes, a network of commuter lines serving Cardiff, the capital city of Wales.

Although the map certainly makes a decent effort, it feels a little bland and half-hearted. The handling of the Welsh and English seems careless, and the irregular angle between Bridgend and Rhoose Cardiff International Airport is just off. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

Transit Maps says:

I think you’ve absolutely hit the nail on the head here with your assessment. This is just an incredibly generic map that could be from anywhere and ends up looking like it’s from nowhere at all. I think that part of the problem stems from the fact that the operator, Arriva Trains, runs different service franchises all over the UK, and has to churn out a bunch of very similar maps for each of them. From a quick internet search, it seems the map for Arriva’s Chiltern Railways is also similarly bland, for example.

I think the Welsh language information is handled competently: it’s only shown if the name differs between the two languages. Interestingly, as a private operator, Arriva is not required by law to provide information in the Welsh language, so it’s nice that they choose to do so.

The icons on the map, unfortunately, are a pretty mixed bag. The red car to denote a park-and-ride facility is simply awful, while “TVM” in a black box for an automatic ticket vending machine is definitely an uninspired and lazy choice.

I’d also really like to see something in the legend that ties the route colours to the actual names of the lines. In real life, there’s no “light blue” line; it’s the Butetown Branch Line… and so on. The name of the line is pretty important information, so why isn’t it shown in any way on the map?

Finally, yes: that weird kink in the line at the bottom left of the map is weird, uncalled for and incredibly visually distracting.

Our rating: A perfect example of a paint-by-numbers transit map. Competent, but as dull as dull can be. Two-and-a-half stars.

Source: Arriva Trains Wales Route Maps – link no longer active