PERHAPS NO COINCIDENCE?

Mainline railways in Wales

The news that the plan to redouble part of the north-south Wales rail between Wrecsam and Saltneyconnection is under review (by Transport Minister Edwina Hart and Network Rail), and the news that the promised hourly train service on the CambrianLine has been ditched as the Transport Minister has now suggested that the provision of an hourly service was now a matter of ‘if’ rather than ‘when’ is not good. This when combined with the lack of movement on the final link between the Ebbw Vale line into Newport (back in 2005, the Welsh Government promised to deliver phase 2 of the Ebbw Vale rail project, with direct trains from Ebbw Vale to Newport and an extension of the line towards Ebbw Vale and Abertillery by 2009) may be ominous. 

The re-doubling of the line between Wrecsam and Saltney (single track since the 1980s) was scheduled to have been completed by 2015, would have enabled trains to travel up to 90mph (114km/h) in some sections, and improved journey times between the north and the south. Previously the promised hourly service on the Cambrian line had been a ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ and was only being held up by the need for infrastructure improvements. The final link into Newport would give commuters the opportunity to travel to work in Newport and Bristol without having to drive or go to Cardiff Central and would also allow services to be run between Abergavenny and Ebbw vale, potentially adding extra off peak services for passengers.

Now back in February, the Western Mail (28th February 2013) revealed that road schemes will provide scant benefits for our economy. It also went on to list six far more beneficial rail schemes which appeared to have been quietly kicked into the long grass:  

• Aberystwyth (Bow Street): new station outside the town with car parking (with an estimated cost between £1.5 and £2 million (2011)).This could have provided a welcome boost to commutes into and out of Aberystwyth and reduce road congestion.
• Abertillery: new station and 1.5 miles of new track to link Abertillery to Ebbw Vale line at Llanhilleth (with an estimated cost £16.7 million (2012)). This could have provided a key rail link for Abertillery to Cardiff (and possibly to Newport).
• Bridgend: new station at Brackla, upgraded track and signals at Tondu (with an estimated cost £12 million (2005)). This could have meant that the train service from Maesteg to Cardiff could have run every 30 minutes.
• Llantrisant: new railway line (on old track) and new stations at St Fagans, Talbot Green, Llantrisant, Gwaun Meisgyn and Beddau (with an estimated cost £37 million pounds (2011)). This could have provided a rail service into Cardiff. 
• Nelson: new stations at Nelson, Trelewis and Bedlinog (with an estimated cost £7.9 million (2011)). This could have boosted rail services into Caerphilly and Cardiff.
• Newport and South Monmouthshire: new station at Llanwern, extra parking at Chepstow and extra parking (and road link to M48) at Severn Tunnel Junction (with an estimated cost £43 million (2011)).  This could have help with the provision of trains from Chepstow into Cardiff every 30 minutes and cut congestion on the roads.

Now to be honest this could be a serious of unfortunately timed coincidences, rather than the Labour in Wales Government (in Cardiff) choosing to focus on roads over rail and east – west communications (including the grossly expensive and environmentally damaging M4 Relief Road) rather than focusing on all of our country. Yet perhaps it is no coincidence at all, the real issue is that Labour in Wales and much of the higher levels of the civil service; simply don’t believe in Wales or the devolution project. This has resulted in the quiet undoing of much of the constructive all Wales approach to transport infrastructure that was developed between 2007 and 2011 by Ieuan Wyn Jones, the then Deputy First Minister in the Plaid driven One Wales Government.

THE CASE FOR FORWARD THINKING?

I welcome the news that funding has been secured for new railway station at Pye Corner, on the line between Cardiff and Ebbw Vale after the UK government awarded the scheme some £ 2.5 million pounds. The new station which will include a a single platform and a car park with 70 spaces should be up and running by the end of 2014, in time for the Ebbw Vale line's planned electrification. This follows last week’s announcement that £ 11.5 million pounds worth of funding has been earmarked for the new Ebbw Vale Town rail station. The Ebbw Vale Town station will also be a single platform at the Works, on the redeveloped steelworks site. The Ebbw Vale line has been re-opened since 2008 and is among the south Wales valleys and commuter lines to be electrified sometime between 2014 and 2019 as part of a £350m investment.

A simple question - single track?

Putting to one side the as yet restored rail link into Newport (not to mention the need for new stations at Caerleon, Llanwern and Magor) for the moment, this is good, if belated news. I continue to question the decision to build single platform railway stations (save where the track is doubled from Crosskeys to Risca). This decision has and continues to directly impact on the frequency of the rail services that can be run, without double platforms and passing loops at all of the station on the line, we are talking about a relatively reduced up and down rail service.  If I was being generous I might suggest that it might be case of Network Rail and the Labour in Wales Government in Cardiff bay thinking along the lines of ‘Give them that [limited service], they will be grateful as something is better than nothing’.

Or double track?

At some point I have little doubt that we (the tax payers) will have to fork out the cash to build double platforms and passing loops along the length of the Ebbw Vale line if only to upgrade the infrastructure and ensure a far more regular service. I find this basic lack of common sense and even basic foresight quite disturbing, if would have been far more sensible to restore the whole line to double track working from the start. That said, the new stations at Pye Corner and in Ebbw Vale are a gain, but, why not build them with double platforms  - it will save us all time and money later.

WHY ARE WE WAITING?

I have lost track, if you will pardon the expression, of how many key dates have come and gone in relation to the Ebbw Vale to Newport project. Enough is enough this rail link is important and needs to be completed and fully opened as soon as possible! Which bit don’t they (the Labour in Wales Government in of Cardiff Bay) get?

Let’s be honest eleven years is a very long time to wait for a train, that’s how long the good citizens of Ebbw Vale and Newport have been waiting for the final stage of rail link to be completed. Now I have heard previously said by smug (and ample) Labourites in Newport ‘That Labour’s hands were tied when they were in coalition with Plaid’, well now you are running the shop so pull your finger out.

Now the interesting thing is that when they want to the franchise can run services via Newport to Ebbw Vale (and back again), as noted by Rail Future Wales (Issue 51 Autumn 2011 )“on the 27th August (2011) the 21.35 and 23.05 Cardiff to Ebbw Vale Parkway and 21.40 and 22.40 Ebbw Vale Parkway to Cardiff services were routed via Newport. Empty stock from Cardiff Canton to Ebbw Vale in the morning and from Ebbw Vale to Cardiff Canton in the evening always runs via Newport for staff route knowledge”.

We have had two feasibility studies, a business case and yet there was no autumn (2011) announcement. The final business case appraisal of Network Rail’s report, has long been completed but not yet released. With more than a few degrees of irony, it can be said that few railways will have (if we get the final go-a-head) been waiting approval through two centuries (the twentieth and the twenty first).

If this is not going to happen, and I for one, hope that the final bit of the line does reopen, could the Labour in Wales administered Government in Cardiff at least develop some backbone and come clean and say so, rather than carry on misleading the good people of the Ebbw Valley and Newport.

A GREEN LIGHT?

Like many people I welcome the proposals to introduce electrification to the Valleys Lines rail network, something that is long-overdue and will be an important investment in our country’s somewhat neglected transport system. I view the proposed if limited electrification of parts of Valleys Lines network as a good start, with more to follow. What we should get is the electrification of the following lines:

• Cardiff Central to Cardiff Queen Street
• Cardiff Queen Street to Aberdare
• Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Bay
• Cardiff Queen Street to Coryton
• Newport to Ebbw Vale
• Cardiff Central to Maesteg via Pontyclun, Bridgend
• Abercynon to Merthyr Tydfil
• Grangetown to Penarth
• Cardiff Central to Danescourt via Radyr (City Line)
• Cardiff Queen Street to Rhymney
• Pontypridd to Treherbert
• Cardiff Central to Bridgend via Barry - Bridgend (Vale of Glamorgan)
• Barry to Barry Island
• Bridgend to Swansea

This is a good start, which combined with the electrification of the main line from Swansea to Paddington, will begin the modernisation of our railway network. This when combined with the Wales and Border franchise being run as not-for-dividend social model (which could happen when the franchise expires in 2018) could lay the ground work for a renewal of our railways in Wales.

The omission of any reference to reopening the final stage of the line from Ebbw Vale to Newport is disappointing and is something that needs immediate action. Over the medium term electrification should be extended to the other Gwent lines, through to Abergavenny and Chepstow.

If the governments in Cardiff and London were serious about our railways then serious consideration also needs to be given to looking at reconnecting some of our towns to the rail network. A good follow on would be reconnecting Caernarfon, Dolgellau and Builth Wells to the network, reopening the Llangefni and Amlwch on Ynys Mon, improving North – South rail communications and getting freight off road and back onto our railways.

ANOTHER SMALL STEP...

Some good news as plans for a £400m energy-from-waste incinerator on the outskirts of Merthyr Tydfil have been pulled out in the face of serious public opposition, as the campaign against the incinerator has pulled in people from all backgrounds and all communities in Merthyr and Rhymney. Covanta's Brig Y Cwm application was among four proposals initially short-listed by Prosiect Gwyrdd, a consortium of five councils. Covanta has a pretty grim history of breaking environmental regulations in the United States. Five south Wales local authorities are looking for a method of disposing of so-called "residual" or non-recyclable waste. Initially there were four companies chasing the lucrative 25 year contract, but one, Waste Recycling Ltd, pulled out in April 2011 and now Covanta have pulled out of Merthyr. At the moment there are only two proposals remaining, Veolia ES Aurora Ltd which plans an Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) at Bowlease Common, south of the Corus Llanwern Steelworks in Newport. And Viridor Waste Management Ltd who have proposed a merchant Energy from Waste (EfW) with combined heat and power facility at Trident Park, Cardiff.

TEN YEARS WAITING FOR A TRAIN?

Ten years is a long time to wait for a train, that’s how long the good citizens of Ebbw Vale and Newport have been waiting for the go-a-head for approval for the final stage of rail link to be completed from Ebbw Vale to Newport. Two feasibility studies down the line so to speak and the jury is still out on whether or not we will get a decision come the autumn. The final business case appraisal of Network Rail’s report, has been completed but not yet been released. With more than a few degrees of irony, it can be said that few railways will have (if we get the final go-a-head) been waiting approval through two centuries (the twentieth and the twenty first). I have lost track (if you will pardon the expression) of how many start dates have come and gone on this project. Enough is enough this rail link is important and needs to be completed and fully opened as soon as possible! Which bit don’t they (the elected inhabitants of Cardiff Bay) get?

YES, NO, MAYBE OR PERHAPS?

Still no firm decision on the much-delayed project to run rail services between Ebbw Vale and Newport at least until the autumn of this year, despite repeated calls from every many ordinary people and elected representatives of every political persuasion (and none).

The much delayed Network Rail feasibility study into the infrastructure needed to launch the service is still in the process of being revised and the current New Labour minister is unlikely to announce his priorities for Welsh transport projects until the autumn.

Jocelyn Davies, one of Plaid's regional AM's for South Wales East is absolutely right the Welsh Government needs to give a clear "yes, we are going to do it’ or ‘no we are not’.”

Personally I suspect that the faffing about before the last election was only a reflection of how low Welsh priorities had sunk in the eyes of Network Rail and the Department of Transport before the referendum, which at least gave a measure of further control and some law making powers to the National Assembly.

Now we are in wholly new territory, we are somewhere different, the current delay is down to a combination of the New Labour Government in Cardiff's inability or marked reluctance to make any decision either way.

LEGISLATE OR ADMINISTRATE?

The new National Assembly, post referendum and post election now has legislative powers - one question that needs to be asked (and answered) is how will those legislative powers be used and to what end? One area for potential legislation is that of our railway network (such as it is). In the last twelve years there have been two successful railway re-openings carried out by Network Rail at the request of the National Assembly the Vale of Glamorgan Railway Line (which re-opened on Friday 10th June 2005) and the Ebbw Valley Railway Line (which re-opened for passenger services on Wednesday 6th February 2008) were by their nature administrative rather than legislative unlike in Scotland (where specific bills to reopen old railways have been vigorously debated, scrutinised, amended and passed by the Scottish Parliament.

I mention this because I was just wondering when will we see bills placed before the National Assembly to:

• A bill to reopen the Ebbw Vale (Rogerstone) to Newport railink 
• A bill to reopen the Llangefni and Amlwch railway
• A bill to construct new railway stations at Caerleon and Magor 
•  A bill to reopen the Aberdare and Hirwaun railway (in the Cynon valley)
• A bill to set aside and protect old railway lines from development in Wales for potential reopening

WHAT ABOUT GWENT?

I welcome Network Rail's plans to make improvements to stations, lines and signalling equipment could double the rail capacity of the region by 2015 and to ease railway congestion in Cardiff and the south Wales valleys have been revealed. It has long been recognised that passenger demand in Cardiff and the valleys is increasing at 8% on average each year.

Network Rail, which owns and operates Britain's rail infrastructure, has predicted that the number of passengers travelling in Cardiff and the valleys would exceed 12m per year by the end of 2015 and has said some 900 trains already travelled daily through the Cardiff area, but the railway needed more capacity by the end of the decade.

The proposed changes would remove the rail bottleneck on the Cardiff city line and allow an extra four trains an hour to run through the area. The £200 million pound improvement plan will help the railway manage the increasing numbers of passengers longer-term and will allow for more and longer trains to run on the valley lines, with 600 more seats during the rush hour.

Additionally more freight trains would run in Cardiff, boosting the business sector, and more robust and efficient signalling equipment would improve reliability of services. One question though - what about Gwent?

In the south east we could do with railway stations at Caerleon and  Magor, not to mention the opening of the line between Newport and Ebbw Vale to passenger traffic. We need far better facilities for passengers at Abergavenny, Caldicot, Chepstow and Severn Tunnel Stations - including save and secure park and ride facilities - to provide and alternative means to getting to and from work, not to mention a start being made on the electrification of the Gwent Valley lines.

DELIVERING BETTER RAILWAYS IN WALES

Plaid Cymru, in government, has gone to great lengths to ensure that improvements to current rail services where they can be made, have been made, running 'rail in Wales,for Wales, means that the possibilities of reopening previously closed railway lines and closed railway stations becomes something more than a pipe-dream. It would also make sense to get the powers to take over responsibility for running the tracks from Network Rail - as any rail projects in Wales are going to be well down the list of priorities. There needs to be much better integration of track and train - something that will allow for far greater efficiencies.

There is a clear need to ensure that easily accessible rail services are available to far more people in the near future. Improving infrastructure, including rail, is absolutely vital to the development of the Welsh economy - to create the successful, sustainable, prosperous and green nation that Wales can be. The Glas Cymru model of how a ‘not-for-profit’ company can operate, already provides an excellent example of what's possible and could have great potential for the delivery of much better and more integrated rail services here in Wales.

It's pretty obvious that the rail franchise agreement for Wales needs a complete overhaul and currently delivers little to the the people of Wales. So Plaid will seek to ensure that the responsibility for the service is transferred entirely to the Welsh Government and create a not for profit company to run the service. it also makes sense to complete the devolution of responsibility and funding for Network Rail in order to complete the work of electrifying the Great Western Main Line to Swansea, electrify the Valley Lines Network and put in place a plan for the electrification of the North Wales Main Line and the Marches Line.

Plaid Cymru's commitment to putting the management of Welsh railways in the hands of a 'not for profit' company when the current franchise contract with Arriva Trains Wales ends in 2018 is significant major step forward. This will enable the Welsh Government to develop a transport system to suit the needs of the people of Wales, rather than see rail transport in Wales merely seen as previously being a mere add on to transport policy of England.

Significant savings could also be made with the possibilities of reinvestment projects such as re-opening lines across Wales, improving journey times or purchasing additional rolling stock. The development of an All-Wales transport network complete with integrated ticketing and timetables across public transport in Wales.

Plaid will also seek to increase the frequency of rail services between Cardiff and the west of Wales, and from Fishguard to the east, and examine Opportunities to introduce light-rail links in parts of the country, as well as enabling direct services between Ebbw Vale and Newport. Plaid will support more services across mid Wales. Following the success of the Ebbw Vale service, Plaid will also work to reopen services on disused lines where there is a good case to do so.