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SWANSEA: Construction begins on Skyline Swansea — the £49m cable car and luge attraction that’s been years in the making

After years of planning, consultation, debate and controversy, Skyline Swansea is finally being built.

Earthworks have begun on Kilvey Hill to prepare the site for the downhill karting luge tracks — clearing and shaping the land while creating sustainable drainage systems to manage stormwater and support biodiversity.

At the Landore Park and Ride, groundworks are getting under way to prepare the site for the cable car system itself. For anyone who has watched this project develop over the years, the sight of machinery on the hill will feel significant.

When complete, Skyline Swansea will be a £49m adventure tourism destination featuring an accessible cable car, downhill luge rides, a free children’s adventure playground, a sky swing and food and drink facilities — all with sweeping views across Swansea Bay and beyond.

It will be Skyline Enterprises’ first site in the UK and Europe, joining its international portfolio of destinations across New Zealand, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada.

Geoff McDonald, Chief Executive of Skyline Enterprises, said: “With early preparation works now complete, people will soon begin to see real progress as we move into construction. We’re proud to be bringing our first UK site to Swansea and to be working with local partners to deliver something truly unique for the city and the region.”

Construction is expected to continue for the next two years, with the attraction scheduled to open in 2028.

The Landore Park and Ride will remain open during the works, though the number of available spaces will reduce. Penderyn Distillery, which operates a visitor centre at the nearby Morfa Copperworks site, will also remain open. Additional fencing will be installed to ensure the safety of workers, hill users and visitors to both sites.

Public access to Kilvey Hill will be maintained throughout, with temporary diversions and signage near active work areas. All existing public access routes will be kept open and new trails created as part of the project.

The Landore Park and Ride’s role as the cable car basecamp is significant — and directly feeds into plans being developed to relocate the Park and Ride to a new site on Alamein Road, just across from the Swansea.com Stadium, once the Skyline basecamp is established.

On ecology — one of the most contentious issues raised by those who opposed the scheme — McDonald was direct. “Our focus remains on delivering something of lasting value for Swansea — from the jobs and skills this project will create, to the biodiversity outcomes we are committed to delivering for Kilvey Hill,” he said.

Trees and vegetation will be replaced at a ratio of at least 3:1, with native broadleaf species including field maple, alder, silver birch, beech, Scots pine, sessile oak and wild cherry planted alongside more than 14,000 native shrubs, new meadow and grassland seeding, and sustainable drainage planting. The work will be overseen by certified ecologists.

That commitment comes in the context of sustained opposition from a small but vocal campaign group who raised concerns about the ecological impact of development on the hill throughout the planning process. Police warned protesters that action would follow as demonstrations continued at the site, and the Green Man sculpture on Kilvey Hill became a symbol of that campaign as work began to transform the face of the hill.

Those concerns haven’t gone away — but the project has cleared the planning process and construction is now a reality.

For Swansea, the arrival of an attraction of this scale is a big deal. Reports have suggested the project could deliver significant economic benefits for the city, and it forms part of a wider transformation of the stadium district that also includes Swansea City’s proposed fan zone, the Penderyn visitor centre at the copperworks, and a new riverside walking and cycling path.

Our Skyline Swansea coverage

Council approves plan for Skyline development
The moment planning consent was granted — and what it means for Kilvey Hill.

Police warn protesters as demonstration continues over Skyline development
The opposition that accompanied the project throughout its planning stages.

New report reveals Skyline’s potential economic impact to Swansea
The case made for why this project matters to the city’s economy.

Landore Park and Ride set to move across the road to Alamein Road
How the Park and Ride is being relocated to make way for the Skyline basecamp.

SWANSEA: Landore Park and Ride set to move across the road — as funding approved for design study of new Alamein Road site

The Landore Park and Ride is set to move — but not far. Funding has been approved through the Regional Transport Fund for a WelTAG stage 2 study to look at design proposals for a new facility on Alamein Road, just across from the existing site.

Alamein Road is an industrial estate immediately opposite the Swansea.com Stadium — placing the proposed new Park and Ride right at the heart of what is rapidly becoming one of the most intensively developed parts of Swansea.

A WelTAG stage 2 study is the Welsh Government’s standard process for developing detailed design proposals for transport schemes. The funding covers that design work only — no planning application has yet been submitted, no decision has been made, and no opening date has been set.

The Landore Park and Ride has been serving Swansea since at least 2002 and has become an established part of the city’s transport network. Parking costs just £1 a day for a car and up to four passengers. The site is served by the number 52 bus, operated by First Cymru and subsidised by Swansea Council, which runs every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday linking the site to Swansea railway station, Kingsway and the bus station.

However, the service has been struggling. A report before the council’s scrutiny programme committee earlier this year revealed the combined operating budget for Swansea’s two park and ride sites — Landore and Fabian Way — was £693,300 in 2024-25, but income was only £89,637 — a drop from £100,734 the previous year. Cheap city centre car parking was identified as one of the reasons for the low take-up.

The report also noted that capacity at the Landore site had already been reduced due to development work nearby — and that alternative locations were being explored. That process has now resulted in the Alamein Road design study.

The reason for the potential move is significant. The existing Landore site has been identified as the preferred location for the basecamp for the Skyline cable car project — the proposal to take visitors up Kilvey Hill — meaning the current Park and Ride would need to relocate to make way for it.

Construction at the Landore site has now formally begun — as Skyline Swansea confirmed today that earthworks are under way on Kilvey Hill and at the Park and Ride.

The area around the proposed new site is undergoing a dramatic transformation. Penderyn Distillery was handed the keys to the former Morfa Copperworks site — one of the most historically significant industrial landmarks in Wales — where they are developing a visitor centre that will draw tourists to this part of the city.

The copperworks restoration has yielded internationally significant archaeological discoveries and a Welsh business has been chosen to bring new life to its heritage buildings.

Nearby, the historic 70-tonne Bascule Bridge has been restored and a new £8m riverside cycle and walking path is being constructed linking the city centre to the stadium along the riverbank.

At the stadium itself, Swansea City have plans for a major fan zone for more than 1,700 supporters — complete with self-pour beer taps, a big screen and a bierkeller vibe — which would significantly increase the number of people visiting the area on matchdays.

A well-placed Park and Ride at Alamein Road could serve not just everyday commuters but the growing number of visitors drawn to the stadium, Penderyn’s visitor centre, the copperworks heritage site and whatever else emerges from this part of Swansea in the years ahead.

A new Park and Ride in this location would also need to be designed with that emerging visitor economy in mind — not just as a commuter car park, but as a gateway to a corner of the city being rapidly reimagined.

The WelTAG design study will inform what the new facility might look like and whether it is viable before any further steps are taken. There is no guarantee that a planning application will follow, and any eventual scheme would need to go through the full planning process.