Major Rail Development Plan Unveiled

[RichardHC]

See the latest from BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-31719527

[s.w.johnson]

There's an election looming. We are all being promised lots of things at the moment. Next there will be feasibility studies and most of it will be found to be too expensive.

[Rhobat Bryn]

So cynical for one so young. You have to bear in mind that the South Wales mainline is to be electrified to Swansea and the Valleys Lines will also be electrified. Those are two big projects which will be delivered in the next 5 years or so.

The issue is however political and not just during the election campaign. We will finally get control over our own network franchise in 2018 but almost as a tit for tat, it appears that the Department for Transport is to withdraw long-distance services to Manchester and Birmingham according to Professor Stuart Cole. If you're unhappy about that, don't forget to tell your local candidates who are after your vote.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... se-8797611

Cross-border services will always be subject to dispute and negotiation for obvious reasons. However we need to be looking to take over Network Rail Wales so that we can decide where new railway development happens in Wales and not have to ask Network Rail for permission.

[Rhobat Bryn]

As I'm still getting to grips with the future financing of the 2018 franchise, I'm afraid I'm not in a position to answer all your questions.

However regards the funding of major projects, we have a clue in the example of the reopening of the Carmarthen to Aberystwyth line. In his article on Click on Wales on May 6th 2014, Simon Thomas argues that this would be a project suitable for the next round of European structural funds.

Day-to-day funding is provided by a combination of fares and subsidy. This currently operates from Westminster therefore it would simply be a case of transferring this function to the Cardiff Bay Treasury. This is why Stuart Cole's point about losing the cash cows of services to Manchester from both North & South Wales and the Mid-Wales service to Birmingham is both important and clever. If the Department of Transport is serious about its plans to transfer the English side of these services to an English franchise, then the subsidy from Westminster to Cardiff Bay would have to increase. This current Westminster Government is keen to move things in the opposite direction so the thought of having to increase subsidies to Welsh railways may give them pause for thought.

The question of cross-border infrastructure is a common one on the European continent. It simply requires cross-border cooperation. For example the Wales franchise runs into England so when timetable changes affect that area, then consultation is required the other side of the Dyke to ensure that customer concerns are heard and responded to.

As I understand it, Network Rail Wales already exists as a self-standing unit within Network Rail which is now a Government department. There would be no increase in bureaucracy if it were made accountable to Cardiff Bay rather than Westminster as it is now.

To close, I don't quite understand why you view question 5 as a problem. You could equally ask how does SNCF deal with Deutsche Bahn or Ferrovie dello Stato with Slovenian Railways. Every country has its own system but still manage to cross borders without difficulty.