Warning £30m rail plan to cut journey times could fail North Wales
May 26, 2014 15:54 By Tom Bodden
It is feared a scaled-back plan for dualling track between Wrexham and Chester will not boost train capacity
Concerns have been raised about cutting train journey times between Holyhead and Cardiff
A major £30m investment to reduce rail journey times between Holyhead and Cardiff could fail to achieve key strategic transport aims in North East Wales.
The warning came from North Wales AM Aled Roberts who fears a scaled-back plan for dualling of track between Wrexham and Chester will fail to increase train capacity on the line linking the region to Merseyside and Manchester.
Transport minister Edwina Hart revealed she had sought reassurances from Network Rail over the numbers of trains which will be able to travel on the improved link after Mr Roberts raised his concerns.
Research by the Mersey Dee Alliance indicated an estimated employment growth of 45-55,000 jobs over the next 20 years in the cross-border region, including the projected 20,000 at Wirral Waters Enterprise Zone, emphasising the need for better transport links.
A report by the North East Wales Integrated Transport Task Force last year warned that while public transport exists, it does not meet aspirations in terms of linkage to employment, frequency or quality of service.
Journey times are simply not competitive to those by car and there is clear evidence that this is having a significant impact... The fact that 1 in 5 turn down job interviews or employment offers because of inaccessibility speaks for itself.
Mr Roberts said: The Welsh Government has commissioned Network Rail to deliver journey improvements between North Wales and Cardiff.
These improvements will reduce journey times but is essential that the necessary works, including the dualling, improve train travel from Wrexham to Liverpool and Manchester as well as Cardiff.
Network Rail will be doubling the track between Rossett Junction and Saltney Junction but an original scheme would have doubled a much longer section between Wrexham and Chester.
In my opinion Network Rail did not make it clear that essential maintenance on the line was due and the Welsh Government has ended up paying for this, as well as dualling part of the Wrexham to Chester line, he said.
If Network Rail had included essential maintenance funding then the Welsh Government might have been able to dual another two miles of track which would greatly increase the number of trains using the line and connecting Wrexham with towns and cities in the North West of England.
Mrs Hart was asked by Mr Roberts if there were capacity problems on the network to improve links with Liverpool and Manchester, was there enough time for the Welsh Government to change the scheme?
She said: I have been concerned, as a result of matters that you have raised with me, about a whole range of issues within north Wales with regard to Network Rail. The minister added she would update AMs after a response from the rail network.
