Reopening rail line ‘would be huge waste of public money’

Martin Shipton

Reopening a branch railway line to the village of Nelson in the county borough of Caerphilly would be a colossal waste of public money, according to a former senior transport manager who was born there.

Until his retirement in 2020, John Pockett was director for Wales of the Confederation of Passenger Transport.

Mr Pockett spoke out after MSs urged the Welsh Government to revisit plans to reopen Nelson railway station following a petition signed by more than 400 people being brought before the Petitions Committee.

The petition, submitted by Nelson community councillor Aled John, calls for a feasibility study into reopening the line, which runs between Ystrad Mynach and Merthyr Tydfil, passing Nelson, Trelewis and Bedlinog along the way.

Deputy Transport Minister Mark Hooper ruled out reopening the line earlier this year, but the committee agreed at its meeting on Thursday, October 22, to write to Mr Hooper asking him to review the business case.

Mr Pockett said: “For me, as one born and bred in Nelson and who went on to spend over half his working life in public transport (trains and buses) the idea of reopening the line from Ystrad Mynach, through Nelson and Trelewis and ending in Bedlinog, whilst nostalgically appealing is an absolute non-starter. There is no justification that warrants spending the massive sums to get it off the ground, so a feasibility study would be nothing but a complete waste of money and, at a time when public resources are limited, any money, even £1, would be better spent elsewhere.

“When I was very young, I well remember, and indeed enjoyed, travelling on the train from Nelson to various places – Barry Island, Aberafon, Swansea to watch Glamorgan play the Australians in cricket, Glynneath to visit relatives, to name just a few – and I would be delighted to do so again. But the reality is otherwise.

“Last year I did a little preliminary work for some political friends, on the potential for reopening this short line. Basically, I considered:

– the population of the three settlements – Nelson, Trelewis and Bedlinog – on 2024 figures, totals just over 8000;
– the availability of and distance to existing regular train services – at Ystrad Mynach Abercynon and Quakers Yard;
– a single track line would be adequate for the overall physical length and time duration needed from Ystrad Mynach to Bedlinog, dependent on train timetabling and frequency;
– consequently, a single platform with shelter would suffice at each halt with appropriate access, lighting etc;
– car parking would be essential for park-and-ride which is essential for reopening of this line to be remotely useful;
– booking facilities would be adequately provided by stand-alone ticket machines;
– a full appraisal of the current track and signalling to assess what upgrades would be needed to meet all safety requirements for carrying passengers.

Cost

“When I looked at these, the cost immediately became obviously prohibitive. Where would the stations/halts be located as the previous sites now appear to be unavailable? What of the ancillary land needed – car parking for park-and-ride as noted, access roads, infrastructure costs for drains/toilets, electricity for lighting and so on.

“This is not to mention the actual cost of reinstating just one platform at each of the three settlements mentioned – Nelson, Trelewis and Bedlinog. Recent published costs for building a simple, single platform, new station – platform, small car park, shelter, adequate access and lighting, ranged from £8m for Bow Street near Aberystwyth, to £21m at Soham in East Anglia, which also included a footbridge. For three halts that comes to a range of £24m to £63m, and there is the cost of land acquisition to consider, too.

“When you consider that Nelson, with a population of around 4,400) is just two miles from Ystrad Mynach station and Trelewis (pop 2,000) less than that to the station at Quakers Yard, it does not take a genius to work out that this is completely impractical on all measures.

“As a reasonable alternative, in the work I carried out, I suggested that a very limited stop (4 stops only) bus service from Bedlinog to Ystrad Mynach station via Trelewis and Nelson would be an efficient, viable and sustainable alternative, with through ticketing for train connections at Ystrad Mynach sold on the buses. I am very pleased that that is mentioned; surely that is the way forward, and I have every confidence that the new Deputy Minister [Mark Hooper] will make the appropriate, informed decision.”

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