LNW-GW Joint
Veteran Member
The Welsh First Minister, Mark Drakeford, was quizzed today by the Welsh Affairs Committee (Westminster) on progress with new trains introduction.
He said TfW were behind schedule but it was down to delays with the manufacturer that only 33 trains were in service rather than the 77 planned.
Later in the same report, it was noted that in a separate decision on WG finances and departmental budgets, TfW would get more money to cover for revenue shortfall, while all other departments other than the NHS would have budget cuts.
This is for the current year 2023/24; further budget cuts were anticipated for next year 2024/25.
I'm more than a little surprised that TfW has not had greater criticism over its performance, and been ordered to cut costs, but the pressure must be on for next year.
These are just the same pressures faced by DfT TOCs.
He said TfW were behind schedule but it was down to delays with the manufacturer that only 33 trains were in service rather than the 77 planned.
Mr Drakeford said delays with the manufacturer which were outside of TfW's control had contributed to the slow rollout, but added that the delivery of a new train every seven to 10 days will accelerate the replacement of old stock. Mr Drakeford made the comments while speaking to MPs during an appearance at the Welsh Affairs Committee on Wednesday morning.
He told the committee: “By today, we were expecting to have 77 new trains, trains which would run on that South Wales to Manchester line. For many complex reasons, and the pandemic is certainly part of that picture, the manufacturer has only been able to deliver 33 of those trains to date. This means that Transport for Wales has had to keep running rolling stock which it had planned to retire.”
“The good news is that one new train is now being delivered to Transport for Wales every seven to 10 days, and so the ability of transport for Wales to substitute the new rolling stock for the old rolling stock will accelerate," he added. Asked whether he was satisfied with the service since the Welsh Government took over Wales’ rail services under TfW, the First Minister said: “Services are not as good as we want them to be and Transport for Wales has a job to do to improve the services.”
He defended the Welsh Government-owned rail company's performance, saying that it had improved last month and into October. “Transport for Wales are confident that that improvement will continue during the rest of this calendar year and into 2024, as they are able to deploy the new trains that were expected to have been here and operating already,” he said.
Later in the same report, it was noted that in a separate decision on WG finances and departmental budgets, TfW would get more money to cover for revenue shortfall, while all other departments other than the NHS would have budget cuts.
This is for the current year 2023/24; further budget cuts were anticipated for next year 2024/25.
On Tuesday, Finance Minister Rebecca Evans increased funding to TfW by £125m to "safeguard services for passengers and continue the programme of transformation currently underway".
She said rail services are facing cost pressures, particularly as home working means fewer passengers are commuting to work on the trains.
I'm more than a little surprised that TfW has not had greater criticism over its performance, and been ordered to cut costs, but the pressure must be on for next year.
These are just the same pressures faced by DfT TOCs.