Slower train times would shame Wales

THE possibility that rail users could face slower services will trigger feelings of despair. We now know that bidders for services not covered by the modernisation of the Core Valley Lines were told they could submit proposals which would result in slower journey times.

This comes after £49m has been spent on upgrades in Shropshire and Cheshire so passengers can enjoy faster journeys between Shrewsbury and Chester via Wrexham. Why were bidders told that the journey should take “no more than 58 minutes” when this is no improvement on today?

The Cardiff area has supposedly benefited from a £300m modernisation of signals and tracks. But while it can take a grinding 71 minutes to get between Cardiff Central and Gloucester via Chepstow today, bidders were told the maximum journey time would be 80 minutes.

Again, bidders were presented with a maximum journey time that is longer than at present for the route between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury.

This matters because our rail services are notoriously slow and Wales is infamous for the difficulties facing travellers attempting to get between two points that do not look particularly far apart on a map.

It is one thing to sell Wales to the world as a tourist destination in which visitors can have plenty of time to admire the scenery. It is quite another to try to market the nation as an ideal location for businesses that depend on easy access to major UK transport networks.

The cancellation of the electrification of the Cardiff to Swansea Great Western Line was a public relations disaster but slower journeys on important routes could prove truly damaging.

Why were bidders told that 25mph would be an acceptable maximum speed on the Borderlands line from Wrexham Central to Bidston when it is already punishingly slow, averaging under 30mph?

What has been achieved by alleged track improvements?

The public should have been presented with the details of what was put before bidders much earlier. There would have been outcry – but such protests would be entirely reasonable.

With the uncertainty of Brexit looming, Wales cannot afford to suffer a de facto deterioration in rail services. We can only hope – and demand – that such an outcome is avoided.

Wales needs a service in which it can take pride. Leaders of every party in the Assembly should settle for nothing less.