How Metro may look for N.Wales

MINISTER SAYS NO PLANS FOR ROAD TOLLS

NEW images have been released to show more on the ambitions of the North Wales Metro programme as a minister said there are no current plans for road tolls in the region.

The Metro map was launched back in 2016 but had come under fire for initially stopping at Rhyl.

These new images show priorities up until 2029 which include major enhancements at popular stations, the creation of new stations, and frequency enhancements from Bangor to Wrexham.

They also capture more ambitious, long term projects including electrification from Holyhead right across to Chester and line extensions to the west and south of Bangor and to the north of Anglesey.

The maps were released as Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters visited Wrexham General Station to see the work that is taking place on the metro scheme.

He said £50m had been provided since 2020 to Transport for Wales to develop the metro and while these maps were not the “final picture” it showed the direction of travel.

The minister said Welsh Government’s ambition is to make “the right choice, the easy choice” for people so they can reduce car use and move onto public transport or walking and cycling.

A recent survey of some road users questioned motorists about paying to use parts of the M4 motorway and A470 in a bid to tackle air pollution but Mr Waters said “there are no plans right now for road tolls”.

He said that in time they may need to “nudge” people in the right direction – which could potentially include tolls – but that is “not where we are now”.

He added it would be wrong to “punish people” for using cars when “have no option” and that the “carrot had to come before the stick”.

He said: “At the moment ‘car is king’ and we put the car first, it is important other forms of transports are put on a higher status.

“We need the right thing to do to be the easy thing, that is not the case at the moment, it is the opposite.”

The latest Welsh Government investments included:

■ £4.8m for bus enhancements including information screens across the Traws Cymru network, refurbishment of Bangor bus station, and new fflecsi schemes

■ £2.7m for improvements at train stations including Wrexham, and accessibility improvements

■ more than £1m to look at ways of improving connectivity between Wrexham and Liverpool.

■ more than £1m for the Snowdonia Transport Strategy which aims to encourage park and ride, bus and active travel in the National Park.

■ £1.5m to develop an integrated station at Shotton£670,000 towards the development of Deeside Parkway.

■ £900,000 towards a study of the north Wales coast mainline, with a view to improve journey times.

■ £250,000 to support the roll-out of integrated ticketing on buses

The Deputy Minister said: “In North Wales, we have put in place the foundations for transformative rail and bus services and active travel.”