Rail services could be slower, the bidders for franchise were told
THE Welsh Government told bidders for Wales’ new £5bn rail contract that many train services could be slowed down – even where taxpayers have spent millions of pounds on infrastructure improvements.
Procurement documents which have now been published – more than two months after the contract was awarded to KeolisAmey – also reveal that rail services for special events such as rugby internationals will be subjected to a formal planning process.
The Welsh Government was criticised by AMs and rail passenger groups when it refused to publish any details of its train service specifications before or during the procurement.
Now it has emerged that for services not covered by the modernisation of the Core Valley Lines, the Welsh Government and its Transport for Wales (TfW) arm told bidders they could submit proposals where journey times would be slower than they are today.
The franchise specifications were drawn up with advice from Network Rail on what the infrastructure would permit.
The Welsh Government spent £49m on upgrades in Shropshire and Cheshire so that trains could travel faster between Shrewsbury and Chester via Wrexham – which would cut HolyheadCardiff journey times.
Last year Network Rail completed the £300m modernisation of signals and tracks in the Cardiff area, improving the operation of Cardiff Central in particular.
However, the Welsh Government told bidders that the maximum journey time between Cardiff Central and Gloucester via Chepstow should be 80 minutes – where today’s slowest trains take 71 minutes.
Bidders were ordered to improve on today’s shortest times on only one line, along the north Wales coast.
Cardiff to Chester or Crewe, via Abergavenny, was also categorised under “faster journeys” but the maximum journey time was longer than that of today’s fastest services.
John Allcock, chairman of the line’s passenger association, said the specified maximum 66-minute journey time suggested a lack of understanding of the line’s “out and back” nature, where the current journey time of under an hour is the slowest possible for two trains to maintain an hourly service frequency.
He said there could have been improvements in the final bids submitted if the procurement documents had been released to stakeholders last year.
Having now seen the documents, with financial information redacted, he could not understand why they were kept secret.
The documents indicate that KeolisAmey will run better rail services when events are held in Wales and the borders. As well as matches and concerts in Cardiff and Swansea, these include recurring events such as horseracing in Chester and the Green Man Festival in Crickhowell.
There is also a procedure to plan for one-off events, for example a papal visit or Nato conference.
Planning will begin 18 months ahead. Three months in advance of each event, KeolisAmey will produce an event management plan, which will be shared with TfW and revised, if necessary, after consultation with event organisers, councils and other parties.
KeolisAmey will have to “ensure that the railway passenger services provided have an appropriate amount of passenger-carrying capacity”.
Bidders were told they could use additional diesel trains on event days on the Core Valley Lines, where diesel is otherwise banned from 2025.