Region not a priority for better rail services

THE Welsh Government decided better train services for west Wales were not a priority when it procured the new 15-year rail franchise, newly released documents reveal.

Bidders were offered bonus points in the competition for the £5bn contract if they met the government’s “priorities for service improvements” on weekdays and Saturdays. The list of priorities includes railways in each region of Wales except west of Llanelli.

The west only got a look in – along with all other lines in Wales – where the government ordered bidders to arrange additional Sunday services.

This has come to light with the delayed publication of the formal invitation to bidders to tender for the franchise.

The government and its Transport for Wales company refused to publish the invitation until more than two months after the contract with Cleiasem had been signed.

The contract includes new trains for west Wales but no additional services west of Llanelli, apart from restoration of a seventh daily service on the Fishguard branch line. Llanelli will benefit from an additional train per day between Swansea and Shrewsbury via Ammanford.

Some Pembrokeshire residents may be surprised that their county was not deemed a priority for rail improvements.

Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire’s county town, has only one train every two hours and it takes more than two hours 20 minutes to reach Cardiff – 15 minutes more than the journey by car, according to the AA.

The major resort of Tenby also has two-hour gaps between trains. Getting to Cardiff takes at least two hours 40 minutes – provided the first train doesn’t miss the onward connection at Swansea. The AA estimates the journey takes one hour 53 minutes by car.