New public transport network will deliver upgrades and increased services
Amelia Jones
A major overhaul of public transport has begun delivering new services, upgraded stations and more frequent trains within its first six months.
Network North Wales has introduced new rail and bus services, timetable changes and station upgrades delivered across the region. The programme sets out a long-term plan for a more integrated, high-frequency public transport network.
To highlight early progress, Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales Ken Skates travelled on a newly wrapped train on the renamed Wrexham to Liverpool line. The design features places along the route, chosen after consultation with passengers.
A new hourly bus service, the T51 between Rhyl and Wrexham, launched in September and is due to get a new double-deck fleet in the new year.
Rail infrastructure improvements have also been made, including new shelters along the Wrexham-Liverpool line and the refurbishment of Flint station by Network Rail.
The upcoming timetable change will double services on the Wrexham-Chester line to two trains an hour, with extra serviced on the Wrexham-Liverpool route, including an early train from Bidston and a later train from Wrexham.
Ken Skates said: “It’s great to be travelling along the Wrexham to Liverpool line, and then on to Chester today seeing what improvements have been made, and what is yet to come.
” With our £800m investment in new trains we are able to see an increase in services which is already being delivered in this December’s timetable change, and we’ll see further changes in May with a 50 per cent increase in services along the North Wales coast mainline.
“Next year we’ll also start to see the beginning of the rollout of Pay as You Go in the north east, which will make public transport even more convenient to use.
“A key part of Network North Wales is linking with the wider North West of England region and beyond, and today I will also meet with representatives from the region as we discuss how we can make further progress to benefit both our areas.”
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Why not do the full journey to Hull and make sure they are spending our bit carefully…
The Welsh Minister for Transport Mostly In England…
Often the benefits of better rail journeys are not fully detailed.
If there are more trains / longer in North Wales can the spend on roads be reduced?
More trains = less car journeys = less wear and tear on road network = lower maintenance costs for councils = lower council tax = higher disposable incomes for residents in North Wales!!
Any chance we can more trains with more carriages on the Aberystwyth- Shrewsbury line please. Also can we have direct trains to London please… without the steeplechase of changing trains in Birmingham…
More capacity to Aberystwyth and the Cambrian Coast is the elephant in the room – the new trains planned for the line are all two-carriage designs that have fewer seats (and fewer toilets) than the current ones. Typically busy services between Birmingham and Machynlleth run as four carriages then split to serve Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. You’d need six of the new carriages to get equivalent space for passengers and I can’t see that happening. Even if they did give in and do this, you then have the question of what happens to the west: on a busy summer’s day do… Read more »
One of the potential benefits of reopening the Aberystwyth to Carmarthen line is the ability to extend the GWR London-Carmarthen services to Aberystwyth.