Nothing will change on the railways

MY family home is in Pembrokeshire but I commute by train five days a week from my home in Cardiff to my employment in Barry.

I have seen the difficulties experienced on the Wales-wide network, not just by Arriva Trains Wales, but by their predecessor, Wales and Borders Trains. Let’s be clear – the staff on board the trains and in the stations are not the property of Arriva Trains Wales; some I recognise from the W&BT days and there were a few now retired who went from British Rail through to the early Arriva years.

It is practically guaranteed the station and train personnel will be unchanged as we go on to the term of the new franchise-holder.

The trains are not the property of Arriva Trains Wales: they are rented from the English company Porterbrook. People moan that the trains are old. Indeed, they are the trains that used to be operated by British Rail. People say they would love to see the return of BR because the trains would be better. No!!

The track and the timetables are also nothing to do with Arriva Trains Wales. They are managed by Network Rail in England.

So I say to those people celebrating the withdrawal of Arriva Trains Wales from the bidding for the next franchise that all the topics people express dissatisfaction with are going to continue beyond Arriva and they will most certainly be factors on the railways of Wales until the Assembly Goverment either gets a grip or surrenders its minimal transport powers back to London. This is Wales. For our only full-size city we get the service we ask for. Chris Williams Roath, Cardiff