THE WELSH CONNECTION?

Isn't it a little odd that the UK Westminster Government has not so quietly committed itself to spending the best part of £500 million pounds on providing tunnelling for the proposed new High Speed (HS2) railway from London to Birmingham, which happens to go through the constituency of a Cabinet minister. Specifically that of case Cheryl Gillan MP (the Welsh Secretary) and who according to David Cornock (the BBC Parliamentary correspondent for Wales) may well be the bookies favourite for the chop come the next cabinet reshuffle.

Perhaps we should not speak harshly of this Welsh Secretary, who has after all done such a fine job fighting hard to get the electrification of the Great Western Line through the south of our country all the way to Swansea, or was she too busy fighting against the £32 billion pound HS2 in England to fight for railways in Wales? Mind its nice of HMG to spend the best part of £500m on a tunnel to help someone keep their job. An extra £500 million might go a long way on the railways here in Wales. Mind what's £500 million between colleagues?

If the UK is going to seriously spend big money on railways there were some slightly better options than this; they could have plugged HS2 into St Pancras which would have enabled through trains to and from the European mainland. To be honest St Pancras is actually part of the problem, a visible symbol of the so called Metropolitan mindset – it would have made more sense to develop HST capable railways to the south and west of London – that way it might (with some vision) have been possible to run through trains from the rest of these islands to and from the mainland both directly and overnight, now there's a thought?

The HS2 plan intends initially to connect London and Birmingham, with potentially further options for additional connections to Leeds and Manchester and even a possible spur to Heathrow – this should perhaps be considered to be the phase 2 of the current scheme. The question is whether or not we will ever see a Phase 3 or HS3? If so and if the Governments of these islands are serious about high speed rail then any such plan should be for the new network to continue north to Glasgow and Edinburgh, and there should also be an option to build westward past Heathrow to Cardiff and Bristol.

Wales (and Scotland to a lesser degree) runs the real risk of being left behind at a time when developing reliable high speed rail transport is becoming increasingly seen as the norm and as a real green alternative to short haul flights. Perhaps leaving Wales behind (and Scotland independent?) is indirectly part of the plan, if you step back and take the long view, working on the assumption that HS2 is actually built, what we are talking about (potentially for the first time) is significantly improving the rail network on an England level rather than at a UK level.

ANOTHER PIECE OF THE PUZZLE...

News that Network Rail is finally creating a separate division for Wales. This move will allow investment decisions about tracks and stations to be taken in here in Wales. This move should be welcomed, it's a bit late but in the end it is the thought that counts. This follows a UK Government report that recommended decentralisation of the network to boost efficiency - that also took them a while. We are soon to have a new fully devolved rail division, which will look after the maintenance and upkeep of more than 200 stations and around 900 miles (1448 km) of railway track. This decision makes sense, as for the first time in our country's history the entire rail network will be managed on an all-Wales basis. This makes perfect sense, as decisions on developing an all Wales transport strategy need to be made here in Wales, rather than by a distant and indifferent (to the needs of Wales at least) Department for Transport.

AN INTERESTING BUSINESS PLAN?

Some two years ago what was then the New Labour Government stepped in to take over a failing private rail franchise (the East Coast Rail Service), when National Express (who also currently run the Stanstead Express, East Anglia and c2c) effectively walked away from running the East Coast Service (which it operated as stand alone company, NXEC) and carried on running those bits of the network that it could squeeze a profit out of at our expense. Here we are some two years down the line MPs have criticised the Department for Transport (DfT) for letting National Express "terminate its East Coast rail franchise in 2009 with next to no penalty.

Apparently the DfT rejected an offer of £150m from the company to quit the loss-making franchise by mutual consent. The DfT then terminated the contract, and received £120m from the company. The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee report noted that the DfT judged giving up the extra cash would reduce the risk of other companies with loss-making franchises seeking similar deals. And also noted that the DfT "undermined its position" by telling National Express any future franchise bids would be unaffected.

This unhappy saga should by now have confirmed in most people minds that rail privasation (something that New Labour publicly stated they would have undertaken if it had not already been done by the Conservatives) has been pretty much an unmitigated disaster. While going back to British Rail may not be an option, now is clearly the time to implement Plaid's idea of rail franchises being run on a not for profit basis, reinvesting their profits in their services and infrastructure rather than merely squeezing profits for the shareholders at our expense.

DON'T LET WALES MISS OUT

It looks like Wales may miss out on any chance of rail electrification this time thanks to a combination of New / Old Labour and the same old Tories. With Whitehall tightening its belts and facing significant spending cuts there is a real and growing concern that the proposed upgrade of the Swansea to Severn Tunnel (and on to London) railway may yet end up as a casualty of Tory spending cuts. No doubt New / Old Labour will be quick to blame the Tories (they have after all done this for years, even when they have been in power), but that would hide the fact that both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's New Labour Government long ignored Wales and Welsh issues.  

The planned rail upgrade, was however, conspicuously absent from the George Osborne's list of capital projects that were to take place before his Budget speech. The rail project is being reconsidered as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review, which is due to be published in the autumn. With the Tories getting ready for what are expected to be pretty savage and deep spending cuts, what guarantees can be extracted for this key project to proceed - a good question that is in need a serious and urgent answer.

More locally within Gwent, the National Assembly's commitment (in March 2010) to finish the work on Gaer junction, so that direct trains can run between Newport and Ebbw Vale was warmly welcomed, along with the prospects of a new railway station in Ebbw Vale town centre and an hourly service. These are important small steps forward to improve our public transport infrastructure and to give people a real choice when it comes to using their cars or not. Now, while it it obvious that much more needs to be done, these improvements should be completed despite the threat of immanent budget cuts.

Elsewhere in south Gwent, there is much that can be done to improve our rail services. Both Caerleon and Magor would benefit from new railway station's and serious consideration should be given to reopening the line to Usk from Little Mill, In recent years we have seen hard won improvements to Severn Tunnel Junction, yet even here there is room for improvement. No to mention the fact that better facilities and better access is needed at Caldicot, Chepstow and Abergavenny Stations, as well as more frequent stopping services.

The National Assembly does not have the same powers over transport as does the Scottish Parliament (it should) and neither does it have the same financial settlement (Wales needs fair funding) - but despite these limits there is much that can be done. We also need to get serious about getting freight off the roads and onto the rails where it belongs - if this can be done along with rail electrification then we can reduce both pollution and road congestion. If Government wants to change the way we use public transport when we need a public transport system that's fit for purpose and fit for us to use.

PM DAVE'S VISIT

I wonder if sometime during PM Dave (or are we back to David now?) Cameron's visit to Wales  we will get told that the Liberal Democrat / Conservative Government is going to commit to completing the electrification of the main south coast rail line from Swansea to Severn Tunnel (and on to London). Or will it be one of the first big  infrastructure projects to bite the bullet under 'Slasher' Osbourne's programme of cuts? If this is so, then it will show a fundamental difference between Ireland and the UK, where, despite the austerity package to fix the financial crisis work continues on the West Coast Rail Corridor  project. 

THINK DIFFERENT - INVEST IN RAIL

The National Assembly’s recent commitment to finish the work on Gaer junction, so that direct trains can run between Newport and Ebbw Vale is to be warmly welcomed, along with a possible new railway station in Ebbw Vale town centre and an hourly service. Much more obviously needs to be done, and despite the threat of potential or immanent cuts, there is much that can be done to improve our rail services.

There is a need for railway station's at Caerleon and Magor and consideration should be given to reopening the line to Usk from Little Mill, There have been improvements at Severn Tunnel Junction, there is room for improvements in facilities and access at Caldicot, Chepstow and Abergavenny Stations, not to mention more frequent stopping services.

We also need get freight off the roads and onto the rails which would along with rail electrification cut both pollution and road congestion. If Government wants to change the way we use public transport when we need a public transport system that’s fit for purpose and fit for us to use.

Berlin

It has been said that travel broadens the mind, there may be some truth in that. You get to see new places, even if only for a few days and get to make comparisons with how things are done or function in your home country. I had a few days in Berlin (the other weekend), having caught up on sleep, have noted the following:

· The public transport system S and U Bann networks were impressive, as was the co-ordination with the cities buses – the trains and trams were very clean and provided an exceptionally efficient way of getting around, as well as running late into the Friday and Saturday evenings.

· Picked up a 3-day travel pass for Berlin, which also gave you discounted access to various museums, etc – now that is a good idea.

· Berlin – a large spread out city was seriously clean by way of comparison with South Wales, very little litter and no gum on the pavement.

· Went to see Hertha Berlin v Borussa Dortmund (at the Olympic Stadium) - 74, 422 – no segregation (and at least 10,000+ Dortmund supporters, + lots of beer, pretzels, wurst, etc – no trouble and a relatively minimal Police presence.

· The various fans were in good spirits in the spring sunshine, lots of banter and beer drinking – on the train to the ground, I was people watching – and noticed a large Herta fan (in a small shirt) and his mates who were knocking beer back (like it was going to be made illegal at midnight) and talking to Dortmund fans, cadging lights for cigarettes, etc.

· We waited a few minutes at one S-Bann station – the large fan, checked the indicator boards for the departure time, picked up all the empties (in a plastic) bag, stepped off the train, deposited the empties in a bin and stepped back on board to start a fresh beer…(10 out of 10).

· Now I for one and sadly many others cannot imagine Cardiff City v Swansea with no segregation, beer, and a minimal Police presence…

· It is also worth noting that with the match tickets (bought on-line) you also got free travel within Berlin for an hour before the game and for 3 hours afterwards (that’s also a good idea).

· Now Hertha Berlin were well and truly horsed (losing three goals to one) by Dortmund – yet there was no trouble at all.

· The biggest cheer of the afternoon was confirmation that Bayern Munich went down by five goals to one.

· You really notice the differences when you come back home, arrived at Cardiff Wales Airport, missed the once an hour connection to the railway station, killed some time in a cafe (at the airport) before going to catch the bus. It was very expensive and dirty – a definite case of could do better!

Overall think that the Germans have a much more civic minded and more functioning society and perhaps more of a sense of ownership (hence the lack of litter) – one can but ask where did we go wrong? Moreover, how can we fix it?

There were a number of small almost discreet memorials scattered about the City (along the line of the former Wall) to those who died trying to escape communist East Germany - which makes you think about how much we take for granted - especially when you remember that the last person killed trying to escape to freedom was shot by border guards in June 1989, and the wall ceased to function in November of the same year.

There were around some 5,000 successful escapes to West Berlin, and no doubt many failed escape attempts. There is an on-going argument about how many people died trying to escape to freedom - according to the Center for Contemporary Historical Research (ZZF) in Potsdam there were 136 confirmed deaths.

Much of Berlin remains a building site as the on-going costs of reunification as well as the East German economic and environmental legacy continue to trouble the finances of the reunified German state.