THE TRAIN NOW STANDING AT...

News that Arriva Cross Country has promised to more than triple the number of trains serving Chepstow station (which serves S.E. Monmouthshire, the Wye Valley and the Forest of Dean) from May 2011 is very good news indeed for increasingly hard pressed rail travellers and visitors to Chepstow (the gateway to the Wye Valley).

There is nothing more frustrating (or a more ludicrous situation to be in) than to be standing on a station platform at to endure having to watch a passenger train slow down to pass through the station and not stop. It's especially irritating when, when the train is going in the direction you want to travel. At least this promise should begin to fill some of the gaps in services too and from Chepstow and may attract more passengers.

Arriva’s promise of more stopping services goes some way to undoing the damage that has been done to rail services at Chepstow over the last few years with the appointment of each new train operating company. As of May, ten trains extra a day will stop at Chepstow on each direction of the Cardiff to Nottingham route Mondays to Saturdays.

At the moment, only two trains a day stop there on the northbound service and three a day on the southbound return service. This is a step in the right direction and is due in part to the hard work of the Better Trains 4 Chepstow campaign group, who have been working hard for some years to improve facilities and services for Chepstow.

TIME TO REOPEN OUR OLD RAILWAYS

The news that the Plaid driven One Wales Government has asked Network Rail to conduct feasibility studies into the possibilities of reopening to old railway lines (between Llangefni on Anglesey and Bangor, and between Aberdare and Hirwaun in the Cynon valley) to passenger traffic is to be welcomed.

Similar feasibility studies should be undertaken on the old railway lines between Usk via Little Mill to the main line and in the Wye Valley between Chepstow and Monmouth. If we are serious about delivering reliable, effective and sustainable all weather communications to our communities then reopening old railway lines initially to passenger and then to rail freight is the way to go.

The lines to Usk and to Monmouth via Chepstow which were originally closed by the then Conservative Government which initiated significant and damaging cuts to rail services via the Beeching review of rail transport.

If Government in both London and Cardiff is really serious about cutting carbon emissions and road congestion then reopening these lines to rail and fright traffic could provide serious economic stimulation to the local economies and provide a real opportunity for people to make use of public transport which would reduce road congestion.