Transport for Wales Is Invading England
There is an article in the July 2019 Edition of Modern Railways, which is entitled TfW Targets Swansea To Bristol Services.
This is the first paragraph.
Transport for Wales Rail Services is aiming to start an open access service between Swansea and Bristol Temple Meads, commencing in December 2020.
These are characteristics of the proposed service.
- Hourly service
- Calls at Neath, Port Talbot Parkway, Bridgend, Cardiff Central, Newport, Severn Tunnel Junction and Filton Abbey Wood stations.
- Sixteen services per day will run Monday to Saturday in both directions, with twelve services on Sundays.
- Trains will be Class 170 or Class 175 diesel trains.
Looking at current times of sections of the route, I suspect that services could take a few minutes under two hours and would need four trains.
Reasons given for planning the service include.
- Long-term political pressure.
- Welsh ministers abandoning plans for the £1.6 billion M4 Relief Road around Newport.
- Cross-Severn road traffic has increased after abolition of tolls.
- Main roads on either side of the Severn are congested.
- Increased house sales in South Wales to people who work in the Bristol area.
Incidentally, before I read the article, if you asked me, I’d have thought there would be a direct service.
My only thought about the service, is that as there will be electrification between Bristol and Cardiff, why not run a proper fast bi-mode train like a Hitachi Class 800 train or a Stadler Class 755 train. The latter of which Transport for Wales have on order, for delivery in 2023.
The Class 755 train or its Welsh cousin, could be an interesting option.
- The distance without electrification between Cardiff and Swansea is 46 miles.
- Transport for Wales tri-mode version of the Class 755 train could have three batteries and a diesel engine in the four slots in the powrpack car.
Could it have the capability of jumping the gap.
Birmingham Services
The article also says that, Transport for Wales are also planning to extend their services that terminate at Birmingham to Coventry.
- Holyhead and Birmingham New Street takes three hours.
- Aberystwyth and Birmingham New Street takes three hours
- Pwllheli and Birmingham New Street takes five hours
As Birmingham and Coventry takes twenty minutes or perhaps a convenient hour to go to Coventry and return with a relaxed turnround, does the extension make these three long services simpler to operate?
Extra positioning services from Crewe to Coventry in the morning and return in the evening are also proposed.
These would also suggest that improving the ease of operation of these services is the reason for the extension to Coventry.
Liverpool Services
The article also says that these services to Liverpool will be added in 2022.
- An hourly service to Llandudno.
- A two-hourly service to Cardiff.
It isn’t said, if one of these services is an extension to the recently launched Liverpool and Chester service.
Conclusion
The Welsh are getting ambitious.
M4: Alternative Solutions To Motorway Travel
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
It is a good read giving both sides of the problems of commuting.
This is an important section from an expert.
Prof Mark Barry, a transport expert at Cardiff University, said the M4 has been important in attracting manufacturing, but there have been negatives.
“The downside is we’ve built a lot more housing, retail and other business parks around the M4, that’s then made us over-dependent on the car,” he said.
I think Professor Barry is highlighting a problem, that is seen all over the UK. Like the United States, housing, office, medical and leisure developments are being built, where the only way to get there is by car.
I don’t drive because my eyesight has been damaged by a stroke, but I still have a full life, with more travel than the average man of 71.
If This Is The End For The £1.3bn M4 Relief Road, Radical Thinking Is Needed
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Wales Online.
The article is a good analysis of one of South Wales’ major transport problems; How do you relieve capacity on the ageing M4 around Newport?
I haven’t been on that section of road for perhaps twenty years or even longer, but I can’t ever remember the road, not being full of traffic.
Abolition Of Tolls Not The Smartest Move
This is a subsection of the article about the abolition of tolls on the Severn Crossing, where this is one sentence.
The abolitions of tolls, as predicted, have already driven a 20% rise in traffic levels on the existing M4, which will only put more pressure on its resilience.
Any sensible person could have told you that.
Surely, the extra capacity should have at least been planned before the tolls were abolished.
But then politicians like buying votes with unsustainable decisions that benefit their electorate.
As another example, look at the problems, Sadiq Khan’s fare freeze has caused Transport for London. But then you can’t expect a lawyer and politician to get their sums right. My late wife was a lawyer and many of our friends in Suffolk were in the same profession. Few had any clue about handling numbers properly.
