• King participates in opening of new rail depot and drives train inside
• Event part of celebrations for his seventy-seventh birthday

King Charles celebrated his seventy-seventh birthday with a series of events, highlighted by driving a train during the official opening of a new rail depot in South Wales.

He briefly sat in the driver’s seat and navigated the tram inside the depot before meeting with Transport for Wales staff who contributed to delivering this flagship project.

The major project, costing over £1 billion, is part of a plan to modernize the railway network, including electrifying 170 km of track and upgrading accessibility at multiple stations, with operations scheduled to begin next year.

The train driven by the King was named “Myddfai,” after a small village in Carmarthenshire located in the Brecon Beacons, near his former Welsh residence.

Earlier, the King and Queen attended a reception at Cyfarthfa Castle in Merthyr Tydfil to celebrate his birthday.

The event was attended by several Welsh celebrities and TV personalities, including reality TV star Liam Reardon, “Gavin & Stacey” writer Ruth Jones, and TikTok creator Lewis Leigh.

Guests sang “Happy Birthday” to the King before he cut a cake shaped like Cyfarthfa Castle, made of vanilla sponge with jam and buttercream.