Written Statement - Wales and Borders Rail Services and Metro Consultation

Today, Transport for Wales is launching a 12 week consultation on the Wales and Borders rail service, due to begin from 2018, as well as the next phase of the South Wales Metro.

This consultation will build on the findings of the Welsh Government consultation undertaken between January and March 2016.  The previous consultation provided a clear steer on a number of passenger priorities, including reducing journey times, increasing capacity and improving punctuality. We now want to understand the views of users on how these priorities can be turned into proposals and consider where there might be trade-offs between competing costs and benefits.    

The consultation also serves to provide an update on the progress of the procurement and offer an insight into the procurement process and next steps.  It covers Wales and cross-border services and invites views on passenger comfort, station improvements, better connections, information and fares and ticketing.  It also covers core valley lines services that are to be part of the South Wales metro, including service integration and managing the planned disruption caused by major infrastructure improvements.

In addition to the written consultation available from the Welsh Government’s website, Transport for Wales is planning a comprehensive programme of activity to increase the reach of the consultation, including:

• social media content;
• resource packs including a young people’s version, an easy to read version and infographics;
• five half day events around Wales (taking place in Llandudno, Shrewsbury, Nantgarw, Carmarthen and Aberystwyth);
• establishing a number of focus groups to target people who feel underrepresented or are hard to reach;
• online advertising to target passengers and non-passengers;
• a research project with Transport Focus to target both passengers and non-passengers; and
• engagement with the business community and employers.