Tory Senedd Member calls for Transport for Wales improvement after being stuck on a train for nine hours
A Conservative Senedd Member has called for Wales’ nationalised rail service to be improved after being stuck on a Transport for Wales train for nine hours.
Janet Finch-Saunders MS, the Shadow Minister for climate change was stuck on a train from the north to the south of Wales at Hereford, and said that she tried to phone the Deputy Minister for climate change to let him know about the situation.
The delays also affected services between Manchester Piccadilly and Milford Haven, between Holyhead and Cardiff Central, and between Chester and Llanelli.
National Rail and Transport for Wales said delay was caused by a broken down train between 5.21pm, and 7.21pm.
Really poor train journey @tfwrail
Been stuck at Hereford for ages now. The train is sweltering and people sat on the floor etc.— Janet E Finch-Saunders (@JFinchSaunders) March 28, 2022
“It was the most horrendous situation, people crying, people anxious to get to their final destination,” Janet Finch-Saunders said.
“In desperation, my colleague Llyr Gruffydd and I took to Twitter to communicate with the Deputy Minister for climate change Lee Waters to report the ongoing train delay which had come to a halt on the tracks. Needless to say, Mr Waters failed to respond.
“The people of Wales deserve a national train network that is not only modern and affordable but reliant and accountable when things go wrong. Yesterday was a poor example of the so-called progress this Welsh Government is supposedly making in its rail development plan.”
‘Neglect’
Transport for Wales said: “Due to a broken down train between Hereford and Newport South Wales trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines.
“Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 9pm on March 28.”
The company is currently rolling out a project of improvements, saying that from 2023 an £800m investment will ensure that 95% of journeys are on new trains.
The Welsh Government have in the past pointed to a lack of investment in Welsh rail by the UK Government for the poor quality of Wales’ transport network.
Only 22 miles – or 2% – of the railway in Wales is electrified, and Mrk Drakeford said that he had called for devolution of responsibility in rail to the Senedd.
Speaking last month, the First Minister said: “Wales is treated anything but fairly when it comes to rail investment by the UK Government,” Mark Drakeford responded, adding that “Wales loses out on billions of pounds’ worth of investment.
“It is nonsensical—absolutely nonsensical—to claim that, because there is a new service from London to Birmingham, somehow that means Wales has had its fair share of that investment.
“Scotland, where comparability is conceded, will have £10 billion to invest in rail infrastructure in Scotland, every penny of which is being denied here to Wales.
“And all of that comes on top of a decade of neglect of investment in the infrastructure here in Wales.”
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Welcome to the real world…
If a train is travelling for 7 hours and is stationary for 2 hours how long was your journey ‘stuck’? Usual Tory problem with the truth…
It could have been worse…if she had been on a P&O ferry…
HS Victorian trains in Wales no direct route North to South ¿
The lare Aled Roberts, John Marek and i were stuck on that line near Craven Arms for several hours a few years back…..the sharesd table experience improved my understanding of both gents a great deal as well as my knowledge of crops and animal life in southern shropshire.
Why is this person complaining about our rail service, when her masters in London have invested our money in the new HS2 line, this is just the outcome one would expect, or is she unaware of how rail funding in Cymru works, that would be par for the course for a Tory politician.
Get your bosses in Westminster to give Wales its fair share of HS2 consequential. Then you can stop moaning.
“communicate with the Deputy Minister for climate change Lee Waters to report the ongoing train delay which had come to a halt on the tracks. Needless to say, Mr Waters failed to respond.”
Right. So it’s the responsibility of a government Minister to resolve day-to-day operational matters?
Entitled much?
Much as I might wish that JFS had been stuck on that train for 90 hours it is most definitely a matter that Waters needs to be advised of. He’s the blinkered minister who carps on about “things need to change for the better” i.e following his particular interpretation of the green gospels. Yet the current state of his “alternatives” are a scandal and every time a train fails in this way is a justifiable cause for drawing his attention to it. Were he genuinely committed to performance improvements he should then bring a whole raft of cases to the… Read more »
“It was the most horrendous situation, people crying, people anxious to get to their final destination,” Janet Finch-Saunders said. Was she talking about people trying to escape the carnage in Ukraine? Was she recounting the scenes in Afghanistan as the Tories prioritised rescuing dogs over people? Was she talking about those fleeing the war in Yemen that the Tories have helped perpetuate? Was she talking about the lorry drivers queuing at Dover? NO, she was talking about a broken down train that she was on…and almost as if to prove how mind shatteringly stupid she is, she tried to call… Read more »
JSF, do something useful – get your London bosses to share the hs2 consequentials. Get them to spend the same per mile on Wales’ rail network as England’s . Its not Lee Waters fault its yours.
If our HST2 consequentials had not been stolen by England we could make many necessary improvements. This Tory apologist should give some thought to that.
Plaid get your message out there and in a coherent form, make sure your office staff in Porthmadog and Dolgellau etc are informed and well supplied with information and that electioneering materials, posters and car stickers etc are available and plentiful. Especially on Ynys Mon…
No trains in Dolgellau though.
Not anymore, I used to get a lift on the foot plate when the old 060 went to bed in its shed in Penmaenpool to see my pal…GP
Coming soon…….member of parliament complains about the price of a pint of milk in a shock discovery experience as they mistakenly wander into a big shop.
Better make that a small shop if you want to estimate the real price of milk.
Could Ms Finch Saunders please then tell her colleagues in London that Wales deserves the Barnett Consequential that is owed as a result of spending in England on HS2 and stop that England’s HS2 is a benefit for Wales?
On a happier note my grandfather did not go to France with his regiment in the First World War because the train from Swansea to York broke down.
He survived the War and you have survived this minor event in life’s journey and hopefully learnt something in the process
Pathetic all round. We need Independence because Cymru is crap right now.