NO AMBITION AND NO VISION!

Politicians and governments are often condemned for their lack of ambition or their lack of the vision thing, but, somewhat more rarely are they condemned for lacking both the vision and the ambition. Yet both the Welsh and UK Governments have displayed a craven lack of ambition and pretty much a complete lack of vision when it comes to developing Wales' railway network.

Both Westminster and Cardiff have failed to take advantage of existing and new EU funding programmes which are available to improve and develop our railways. So rather than seizing the initiative to invest in and improve our railway infrastructure both Governments have sat on their hands and allowed potential funding opportunities to pass them by.

Almost by accident rather than by design, one might think, some of the powers needed to develop and develop our railway system are already possessed by the National Assembly. The Transport (Wales) Act came into effect in February 2006 and gave the National Assembly powers to plan and co-ordinate an integrated transport system, so how much longer do we have to wait to see some vision?”

We need to develop the long term view and invest in our rail services; we need to further develop rail freight and co-ordinate rail and bus services across the whole of Wales and we need to have full control of its transport policy, transport budget and the related planning regulations. There is considerable room for improvement when it comes to the provision and development of our railway services here in Wales.

When the franchise is renewed in 2018 the railways in Wales should be run on a not for dividend profit basis, with all profits accrued being ring fenced and reinvested into our railways. The healthy profits run up during the period when the East Coast mainline serve has been run by the Westminster Government after the collapse of the private franchise shows what could and should be achieved here in Wales.  

WORKING FOR SCOTLAND

There are clear signs that the Scottish Government is delivering for Scotland, one example of this took place yesterday when the responsibility for delivering a rail route from the Borders to Edinburgh was been officially passed to Network Rail. Scottish Government Transport Secretary Keith Brown signed the agreement at a ceremony at Newtongrange in Midlothian. The agreement passed responsibility for completing the Borders line, with 30 miles of new track and seven new stations, from Transport Scotland to Network Rail.

Visible progress on the Borders Rail Project

Scottish Government Ministers hope that the £294 million pound project will be completed by the end of 2014, although the contract sets a final deadline of summer 2015. One visible measure of progress is the preparatory work to clear clearing vegetation and removal of buildings and bridges, has already been carried out along the line. Once the project is completed trains return to the Borders for the first time in more than 40 years.

When it comes to the Welsh Government visibly delivering for Wales I struggle to find significant concrete evidence beyond some the transport infrastructure projects brought in by the One Wales Government. Unfortunately for us here in Wales, the Con Dem Westminster Government and the Labour in Wales Government in Cardiff are nominally running the shop. They are not really interested in developing an integrated public transport across the valleys, across the south east and the rest of our country.

Plaid in Monmouth has regularly called for improvements to existing rail services and facilities and a series of feasibility studies to investigate re-opening previously closed railways as has happened in Scotland. In the south east, we need Abergavenny and Chepstow railway stations to be real gateways, with fully integrated local bus services. We need better facilities at Severn Tunnel Junction and Caldicot railway stations and the provision of adequate safe secure parking facilities. We need feasibility studies into the development of a Parkway Station at Little Mill and the possibilities of re-opening the railway line from Little Mill to Usk and the development of a new railway station at Usk.

Driver Training on Gaer Spur in 2009 (Photo: Ian Brewer)

The Welsh Government needs to commit to reopening the final stage of the rail-link from Ebbw Vale to Newport along with new railway stations at Caerleon and Magor which would help to reduce road congestion. Such developments would provide a regular rail service to local residents and reduce the ever increasing traffic burden from already overcrowded roads. The re-opening of Pontrilas Railway station (in south Herefordshire) for passenger traffic (and timber shipments) would also help, as would a feasibility study into developing regional rail freight services, removing heavy Lorries from local roads.

Buying our heads in the sand is not an option, as we face a future where cheap fuel is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. We need to ensure that all our communities have reasonable access to a reliable cheap system of integrated public transport, at the heart of which should be our long neglected rail network. The old excuses about a lack of funding are not acceptable, as even when times were good, there was little evidence of any real commitment or action to improve things here in Wales from Westminster.

A devolutionary half-way house won't work anymore; it will not deliver or even give us the chance to deliver, even with legislative powers. We make up 5% of the population of the UK, and have made (and continue to make) significant contributions to the exchequer.  If Unionists want to the Union to work then we need 5% of the UK transport spend, and full control of our transport planning and our transport budget.

The changes and reforms that are necessary to fix the problems in our country means that we need the tools to do the job. The botched and complicated LCO system for creating legislation barely worked and was consigned to the dustbin of history. The old system did not work with a nominally Labour Government and was never going to work with a Conservative dominated Government which is indifferent to any concept of devolution in particular and the needs of Wales in particular.

Even with legislative powers, we are still in some sort of half devolved limbo state of governance, lacking a fair financial settlement. With all the good wishes in the world this is not going to work well, even with an inert visionless former New Labour government in Cardiff. The governance of Wales if it is to be cost effective can no more be half devolved anymore than someone can be half free.

Wales needs a fair financial settlement so we can finance the construction of a decent system of integrated public transport after years of indifference. In Scotland, significant strides have been made to reopen, redevelop and build a coherent and integrated public transport system. In Wales over the last thirteen 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 (re-opened on Friday 10th June 2005) and the Ebbw Valley Railway Line (which was partially re-opened on Wednesday 6th February 2008).

Unlike in Scotland there was not real political dynamism at work here, these were administrative rather than legislative projects. In Scotland things were different, bills to reopen old railways were vigorously discussed, debated, scrutinised, amended and duly passed by the Scottish Parliament. If we are serious about integrated public transport then we are going to have to get serious about how we are going to develop and redevelop our public transport infrastructure.

The Transport (Wales) Act (effective from February 2006) gave the National Assembly the power to plan and co-ordinate an integrated transport system, how much longer do we have to wait to see some vision let alone any action? Meanwhile the rail companies are busy ramping up rail fares, and trying to reduce services, all with the tacit co-operation of Westminster Government (of various political hues) and the Department for transport.

Such blatant duplicity is not acceptable - it’s time for our government in Cardiff to take the long view and actually put its money where its mouth. The Welsh Government in Cardiff needs to work to redevelop our rail services, boost the development of rail freight and to co-ordinate rail and bus services – because Westminster even with a Labour Government will not deliver for Wales.

Wales needs to have full control of its transport policy and transport budget devolved as quickly as possible and the franchise when it is renewed in 2017 should be run on a not for profit basis.  The time for excuses has passed, ending years of neglect and indifference to our needs won’t be cheap and it won’t be easy as there is no quick fix.

We need to plan for our future but it can be done if the political will is there, as has happened in Scotland. Much can be accomplished by a combination of the will, the funding and interested private and community partners. If the Governments in London and Cardiff are really serious about cutting carbon emissions, reducing road congestion and building sustainable communities then they need to work to get people and heavy goods back onto our railways and revitalise our communities.

MAGIC NUMBERS

One unanticipated side effect of the recession is that the tolls on the two Severn bridges may continue to have to be paid for almost a year longer than planned due to combination of excessively high fuel prices and the economic downturn which means that less traffic crossing the Severn bridges. The Severn Bridge tolls, rise by inflation every year, something that appears to be set in stone by the exceptionally poorly worded or ill-thought out legislation passed by John Major’s Conservative government some 20 years ago which allowed a private company to construct the new crossing and to manage the original crossing.

This fix only comes to an end when Severn River Crossings Plc, has collected a set target total income from toll charges. The UK Government In 2005) calculated that this target would be reached in late 2016. The reduction in bridge traffic means however, that the target figure won’t probably be reached until the autumn of 2017. Welsh Government figures, part of the consultation on motorway capacity, show that traffic on the busiest section of the M4 (near Newport) began to drop off in 2005 as oil / fuel prices began to rise due to oil shortages.

It is surely no coincidence that amount of rail freight containers moved by rail into South Wales doubled last year, and in February, Tesco launched a rail service carrying supermarket products to its Wentlooge distribution depot near Cardiff, something that will replace around 22,000 lorry trips per year. If we are serious about cutting carbon emissions and congestion then we need to get heavy goods back onto our railways. This won’t be a quick fix and it may not be cheap but it can be done if the political will is there, as has happened in Scotland, where there is a useful combination of the will, the funding and interested private partners.

For some time now Plaid has wanted to see the transfer of powers (to Wales) so that tolls on the bridges can be reduced, this would have a considerable impact on Welsh businesses and our economy. With control over the bridges devolved, Plaid has suggested reducing the cost of the tolls to under £2 a car and would also introduce new collection techniques so that people crossing the bridge would have an alternative to paying by cash. Any profit that is made could be used to maintain the bridges and upgrade Welsh infrastructure.

Back in October 2010, an independent economic study of the Severn Bridge tolls, by Professor Peter Midmore, recommended that the revenues should stay in Wales, once the crossings revert to public hands. It noted that Welsh businesses are unfairly penalised by the tolls and that the money should be shared with the Assembly Government and used to improve Wales’ roads and public transport. It is a matter for the public record that, once the cost of the Second Severn Crossing has been for then the revenue stream will revert straight to Treasury coffers in Westminster.

The study of 122 businesses commissioned by the Federation of Small Businesses found the tolls had a negative impact on 30% of firms in South Wales, compared with 18% in the Greater Bristol area. While noting that the economic impact was not substantial for most, the study found that transport, construction and tourism-related companies reliant on regular crossings had suffered (and continue to suffer) increased costs and reduced competitiveness. The bridges are of such importance to Wales that it is only right that control, or at least shared control, over them is in the hands of the Welsh people.

Let’s be honest the day when the Severn Bridges come back into public ownership and the day the tolls are reduced cannot come quick enough. In the meantime, there may be a few other things that would be worth examining. In 2011, the Welsh Affairs Committee chair David Davies, Conservative MP for Monmouth, noted that due to "the inflexible provisions of the 1992 Severn Crossings Act, neither the government nor Severn Crossings Plc is able to freeze or reduce the toll without incurring significant costs." More recently, Alun Cairns, Conservative MP for Vale of Glamorgan, said that amending the legislation wasn’t an option and that “Sadly, we’ve got to live with it between now and the end of the concession.”

Personally I have often thought that if there is a pressing problem then you find away to fix it rather than wait around for it to go away. I have also wondered whether it would be worth enquiring as to how come the Act was so badly written? And also whether or not any individuals (elected or not) directly or indirectly benefited (financially or otherwise) with a seat on the board or with contributions to Party funds? Now that might well be worth a freedom of information request or some investigative journalism – now there's a thought?

THE TIME FOR EXCUSES IS PAST...

When it comes to railways in Wales, we tend to focus on anniversaries of rail closures rather than anniversaries of openings. This may well be because transport policy was something that was done to us rather than done for us. I mention this, because I noticed that a plaque has been unveiled marking the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the railway in Knighton (Powys).

The spectaular 22-mile section of the Heart of Wales line from Craven Arms, Shropshire, to Knighton was constructed in 1861, and manged to avoid being closed in the 1950's and 1960's.  A £5m project which upgraded parts of this rural railway was finished last year, reinstating five passing loops at Knighton, Llandrindod Wells and Llanwrtyd Wells in Powys, and at Llandovery and Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire. This is a small but positive step which could, with extra services lead to more regular and better used trains.

The Con Dem Westminster Government and the New Labour Government in Cardiff need to get serious about developing integrated public transport across the valleys and the south east in Monmouth constituency and beyond. For more than a few years Plaid in Monmouth has called for improvements to existing services and facilities and a series of feasibility studies to investigate re-opening previously closed railways as has happened in Scotland.

We face a future where cheap fuel will be a thing of the past, so we need to ensure that all our communities have reasonable access to a reliable cheap system of integrated public transport, at the heart of which needs to be our long neglected rail network. The old excuses about a lack of funding (despite the banking related financial crisis) are no longer acceptable; Wales making up 5% of the population of the UK, and makes significant contributions to the exchequer over the years - so we need 5% of the UK transport spend, and full control of our transport planning and our transport budget.

A devolutionary half-way house won't work anymore, it will not deliver or even give us the chance to deliver, even with legislative powers. The changes and reforms that are necessary to fix the problems in our country means that we need the tools to do the job. The botched and over complicated LCO system for creating legislation barely worked and has thankfully been consigned to the dustbin of history.

It didn't work with a nominally Labour Government and was never going to work with a Conservative dominated Government which is indifferent to any concept of devolution in particular and the needs of Wales in particular. Even with legislative powers, we are still in some sort of half devolved limbo state of governance, lacking a fair financial settlement. Let's be honest, with all the best will in the world this is not going to work well, even with an inert visionless New Labour government in Cardiff. Governance can no more be half devolved anymore than someone can be half free.

Wales needs a fair financial settlement so we can construct a decent system of integrated public transport. This is what has happened in Scotland, where significant strides have been made to reopen, redevelop and build a coherent and integrated public transport system. In the last twelve years in Wales 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 (re-opened on Friday 10th June 2005) and the Ebbw Valley Railway Line (partially re-opened on Wednesday 6th February 2008).

Being brutally honest these were administrative rather than legislative projects, this has not been thye case in Scotland, where bills to reopen old railways were vigorously debated, scrutinised, amended and passed by the Scottish Parliament. If we are serious about integrated public transport then we are going to have to get serious about how we are going to develop and redevelop our public transport infrastructure.

The Transport (Wales) Act which came into effect in February 2006 gave the National Assembly powers to plan and co-ordinate an integrated transport system, how much longer do we have to wait to see some vision? In the meantime the rail companies have been busy ramping up rail fares, attempting to reduce rail services, all with the tacit co-operation of the Westminster Labour Government and the Department for transport (in London).

Such duplicity has never been acceptable - it’s time for our government in Cardiff to take the long term view, to bite the bullet and actually put its money where its mouth is and work to redevelop our rail services, boost the development of rail freight and to co-ordinate rail and bus services across the whole of Wales. To do this effectively Wales needs to have full control of it's transport policy and transport budget devolved as quickly as possible and the franchise when it is renewed in 2017 needs to be run on a not for profit basis.

In the south east , we need Abergavenny and Chepstow railway stations to be real gateways, with fully integrated local bus services. We need better facilities at Severn Tunnel Junction and Caldicot railway stations and the provision of adequate safe secure parking facilities. We need feasibility studies into the development of a Parkway Station at Little Mill and the possibilities of re-opening the railway line from Little Mill to Usk and the development of a new railway station at Usk.

The final stage of the rail-link from Ebbw Vale to Newport needs to be completed and railway stations at Caerleon and Magor would help to reduce road congestion. Such developments would provide a regular rail service to local residents and reduce the ever increasing traffic burden from already overcrowded roads. The re-opening of Pontrilas Railway station (in south Herefordshire) for passenger traffic (and timber shipments) would also help, as would a feasibility study into developing regional rail freight services, removing heavy Lorries from local roads.

If the Governments in London and Cardiff are really serious about cutting carbon emissions and reducing road congestion then we need work to get heavy goods back onto our railways. There is no quick fix, but, the time for excuses is over, we need to plan for the future. This may not be cheap but it can be done if the political will is there, as has happened in Scotland, where there is a useful combination of the will, the funding and interested private partners.

ROADS AND BRIDGES AND RAIL FREIGHT

News that the residents concerns about the noise and pollution levels caused by HGV's vehicles (on the A472) taking a short cut through the centre of Usk, while being of importance are nothing new. As a Trainee journalist on the Pontypool Free Press, I can recall this problem was a contentious issue in the late 1980's. Gwent Police, Monmouthshire council (the nominal successor to Gwent County Council in Usk at least) and Usk town council are still trying to resolve this problem.

I also remember that in the late 1980's a by-pass was offered by developers, controversially linked to proposed plans to build large amounts of housing in and around the town. This proposed development caused some controversy and headlines and letters in the Free Press at least at the time, but, nothing (and rightly so in my opinion)came of it.

The problem has not gone away, it's even worse than it used to be, as over the last twenty years the HGV's have got larger and far more frequent and damage is being done to Usk (and the river bridge) not to mention the increase in noise and pollution in the town, which affects residents, something that will also help to deter visitors to the town. The current 7.5 tonnes weight limit warmings which are being regularly flouted and any resultant fines are not working.

Most people know that there are periodic exceptions to the weight limit and the road traffic orders restricting weight limits are difficult to enforce. The short cut through Usk (from the A449) avoids using the A40 from Raglan to Abergavenny and the A4042 which has well known traffic related problems of its own, to save a few miles. The use of Sat-navs also causes problems by directing lorries through the town
rather than alternative routes.

The issue continues to rightly generate more than reasonable concerns amongst the residents of Usk, there have been recent and not so recent public meetings to address public concerns about the bridge and air pollution in the town. A number of different solutions have been proposed over the years, but, in truth nothing has been done to solve the problem.

The bad news is with the UK Government looking to make significant savings to its capital expenditure programme (which will be passed on down the line to the National Assembly in Cardiff and our local authorities) any suggestion of a by-pass will be a non starter. Even over the short term, with extra police patrols and road blocks may not necessarily survive the cost cutting that's going to descend upon Gwent Police (and the other forces in Wales).

There are not quick fixes, and no easy answers, one thing we need to do is get freight back onto rail and off our roads, far too much freight is being moved long distances by HGV's along roads which are entirely unsuitable for such volumes of traffic. This is one side effect of the wholesale butchery of our rail network in the 1950's and 1960's.

If Government in both London and Cardiff is really serious about cutting carbon emissions and reducing road congestion then much more emphasis on getting heavy goods back onto our railways, Now lets be honest this is not a quick fix and it may not be cheap but it can be done if the political will is there, as has happened in Scotland, where there is a useful combination of the will, the funding and interested private partners.

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. 

THE OIL CRUNCH

The publication a report called ''The Oil Crunch - a wake up call for the UK economy'' (on 10th February 2010) has warned that we will all face a serious rise in the cost of heating, transport, food and other goods, the hard-hitting report can be said to have largely slipped by under the radar. The report was researched by the Industry Taskforce for Peak Oil and Energy Security, which rather than consisting of the usual Green suspects, is actually a group of British companies members including Sir Richard, Brian Souter, chief executive of Stagecoach, Scottish and Southern Energy boss Ian Marchant and Philip Dilley, chairman of consultancy firm Arup.

The report which pulls no punches has said that Government must recognise the risks to the economy and produce contingency plans for transport, retail, agriculture and alternative power. It suggests that the challenges facing the UK will far exceed those currently presented by the financial crisis and that the poorest in society will be the most vulnerable to potentially significant increases in fuel costs.

There are further dire warnings that unless the Government gets its act together on alternative energy then there is the distinct possibility that during the term of the next government that fuel price unrest could lead to real shortages in consumer products and compromise the UK's energy security.

While not specifically dealing with the issue of climate change, the report stresses the significant overlap between the issues of pollution and depleted resources. The vulnerability of transportation to rising oil prices, with small and large businesses ranging from supermarkets to manufacturers being reliant on fossil (oil) fuel based delivery networks, is also highlighted.

The report calls for more research and development of alternative methods of powering vehicles and the electrification of the railway network. Surprisingly, the report has also called for an end to the £9 billion tax break on fuel for domestic airlines and suggests that the money for public transport investment, and that more efforts should be put into encouraging less car travel.

Basically the UK's freight network, its cars and its public transport systems are almost entirely dependent on oil, which when you factor in the threat of the oil price rises (known as the Oil crunch) and factor in climate change, make the way the UK operates unsustainable. The report warns that economic growth could be endangered with rapid price rises raising the costs of raw materials and reducing consumers' spending power as they fork out more on energy and transport costs.

The report notes that there could be a social recession which will hit the poorest households hardest, and calls for the UK Government to make serious provision for the effects of a rise in food prices, which may be triggered by increases in farming costs as agriculture in the UK is far too reliant on oil-related products like fertilisers the costs of which will also rise along with oil prices.

What makes this report timely is that we have already seen warnings from Ofgem – the Energy Watchdog, which has publicly warned that electricity and gas may become unaffordable for an increasing number of households unless drastic action is taken to secure power supplies. In recent years Oil prices have been particularly unstable with peaks of $147 a barrel in July 2008 before falls to $32 a barrel that December 2008 as the worldwide financial crisis and the economic downturn hit home. Oil prices rose again towards the end of last year reaching some $70 to $80 a barrel.

Oil Prices have stayed relatively static in recent months as worldwide economies continue to struggle. It is grimly ironic that the effects of the worldwide economic crisis may have bought us some more time (2 years), as they have pushed back the ''oil crunch'' point – which is when worldwide demand will use up stocks faster than they can be replaced by new production – the question is will the UK Governments and business use this precious time to work out how to solve the problem or not?

The UK is seen as being vulnerable to energy price rises, as it is so dependent upon imported energy supplies, something that is made worse because many of the areas where oil and gas are imported from are politically unstable. Now oil prices are, once the world economy comes out of recession, still predicted to climb to a sustained level above $100 a barrel within the next five years, which is good news for Mr Putin, the Iranians and the Saudi’s but bad news for Mr Brown’s successor whoever they may be and bad news for the rest of us.

Developing sustainable secure renewable energy supplies is the only serious answer to this problem, that and curbing our dangerous addiction to oil fueled air travel and road haulage – which brings us back to a radical idea of investing in our railways and electrifying of our railways and getting freight of our roads and onto our railways. Another question to ask is how serious will any incoming Government be towards investing in and developing our railways?