Light rail would not help on Valleys lines

AS THE date on which we find out about the new Wales and Border franchise draws nearer, at long last the disenfranchised public will find out whether Welsh Government ministers’ promises that no-one travelling on the Valley Lines will have to stand for more than 15 minutes will be kept.

Despite the closed-doors process, it’s no secret that the concept of converting Valley lines to light rail is being looked at. However, light rail systems around the world are used for relatively short-distance, frequent services where numbers of seats are sacrificed for specifically designed standing spaces. For instance, Manchester’s Metrolink typically serves towns like Altrincham, which are around 10 miles from downtown Manchester, with Bombardier M5000 trams in mainly two-car formations which have 60 seats and are designed for 145 standing passengers. The Urbos 3 Trams on the Midland Metro have 54 seats and space for 156 standing.

When you consider ATW currently provides around 1,200 seats between Pontypridd and Cardiff between 8am and 9am on a weekday, which are much complained about as being inadequate, the light rail seat numbers don’t stack up. Trams would have to be chasing each others’ tails down the valley just to equal what we have now, let alone improve on it. The reality is light rail would just provide a shiny new environment to stand in for peak-hour Valleys commuters and fail to keep the ministers’ promise.

Any light rail solution for the Valleys would see passengers from the Heads of the Valleys expected to travel 25 miles to downtown Cardiff on trams that do not have toilets and are short on seats (of course, you could add a toilet at the expense of seating space). Only full heavy rail electrification will be able to provide enough seats and a comfortable journey to Cardiff from the Heads of the Valleys. Gareth Marston Newtown Station Travel, The Railway Station, Newtown