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Sun Nov 29, 2015 10:39 pm
There are fears that rail passengers face a “looming crisis” because the Welsh Government has rejected advice to develop a rolling stock strategy.
Three-quarters of the ageing Wales and Borders train fleet will need to be taken out of service temporarily for modifications by January 1, 2020.
After that deadline, every passenger train on Britain’s rail network must meet European standards on accessibility – introduced seven years ago – with wheelchair-accessible toilets and features to help visually impaired passengers.
Two years ago Welsh ministers were advised to produce a rolling stock strategy urgently to minimise the cost of modifying trains and the disruption to passengers during the process.
The government says this is a matter for bidders for the next franchise, which is due to take over from Arriva Trains Wales just 14 months before the deadline.
Any hopes that electric trains would replace the old Valley Lines diesel units before the 2020 deadline have probably been dashed by last week’s revelation that electrification from Cardiff to Swansea – ahead of the Valley Lines in the queue – has been deferred to the 2020s.
Stretched to its limit
Compressing the modifications work into 14 months would involve taking several trains out of use at the same time, but the fleet of diesel units is already stretched to its limit because it has not been enlarged for eight years – despite major growth in passenger numbers and services.
Options would include buses replacing some rail services for more than a year, shortening certain Valley Lines trains or reducing the frequency of services.
Overcrowding could result, especially given that rail passenger numbers are likely to increase further by 2019.
The Assembly’s business and enterprise committee received evidence in 2013 from companies which own the train fleet and lease it to ATW.
One of them said 73% of the trains would be unable to operate after 2019 without modifications and warned that ATW had no obligation, under its franchise contract, to do any of the work.
“You will not be able to make all of these trains compliant in that 14-month period,” it warned.
The committee advised the government to “develop and publish a rolling stock strategy as a matter of urgency … to ensure pressing decisions on rolling stock compatibility for electrification and accessibility legislation are taken in good time to avoid the increased cost and disruption associated with delay”.
Asked for an update on the subject, a Welsh Government spokesman said: “Ministers have made it clear that the specification of the next franchise will require bidders to meet all applicable legislative requirements.
“It is up to Arriva Trains Wales to appropriately manage capacity requirements for the current franchise.”
Shadow transport minister and Conservative AM William Graham said: “We have long been aware of the need for significant upgrades to the rolling stock in Wales, and to find that very little progress has been made to date is extremely disappointing. Whilst modifications have been underway in England for some time, the Welsh Government has sat on its hands.
'A ticking timebomb'
“The forecasts suggest further growth of around 30% in the number of passengers using the transport network, and we know that it is already buckling under pressure.
"It’s a ticking timebomb and the Welsh Government needs to work proactively to ensure that the Welsh train network has enough rolling stock to head off this looming crisis.”
Rail expert Ian Walmsley, who managed the Valley Lines fleet in the 1980s, said the government should come clean on not meeting the due date.
“The problem is a direct result of the delay in electrification, but if that delay gives time for the Welsh Government to catch on to tram-trains it will be a blessing in disguise,” he said.
Mr Walmsley and others have argued that tram-trains would suit the Valley Lines for several reasons, including cheaper electrification costs and their ability to extend services beyond the existing rail network by using tram tracks in streets.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... s-10520645
Three-quarters of the ageing Wales and Borders train fleet will need to be taken out of service temporarily for modifications by January 1, 2020.
After that deadline, every passenger train on Britain’s rail network must meet European standards on accessibility – introduced seven years ago – with wheelchair-accessible toilets and features to help visually impaired passengers.
Two years ago Welsh ministers were advised to produce a rolling stock strategy urgently to minimise the cost of modifying trains and the disruption to passengers during the process.
The government says this is a matter for bidders for the next franchise, which is due to take over from Arriva Trains Wales just 14 months before the deadline.
Any hopes that electric trains would replace the old Valley Lines diesel units before the 2020 deadline have probably been dashed by last week’s revelation that electrification from Cardiff to Swansea – ahead of the Valley Lines in the queue – has been deferred to the 2020s.
Stretched to its limit
Compressing the modifications work into 14 months would involve taking several trains out of use at the same time, but the fleet of diesel units is already stretched to its limit because it has not been enlarged for eight years – despite major growth in passenger numbers and services.
Options would include buses replacing some rail services for more than a year, shortening certain Valley Lines trains or reducing the frequency of services.
Overcrowding could result, especially given that rail passenger numbers are likely to increase further by 2019.
The Assembly’s business and enterprise committee received evidence in 2013 from companies which own the train fleet and lease it to ATW.
One of them said 73% of the trains would be unable to operate after 2019 without modifications and warned that ATW had no obligation, under its franchise contract, to do any of the work.
“You will not be able to make all of these trains compliant in that 14-month period,” it warned.
The committee advised the government to “develop and publish a rolling stock strategy as a matter of urgency … to ensure pressing decisions on rolling stock compatibility for electrification and accessibility legislation are taken in good time to avoid the increased cost and disruption associated with delay”.
Asked for an update on the subject, a Welsh Government spokesman said: “Ministers have made it clear that the specification of the next franchise will require bidders to meet all applicable legislative requirements.
“It is up to Arriva Trains Wales to appropriately manage capacity requirements for the current franchise.”
Shadow transport minister and Conservative AM William Graham said: “We have long been aware of the need for significant upgrades to the rolling stock in Wales, and to find that very little progress has been made to date is extremely disappointing. Whilst modifications have been underway in England for some time, the Welsh Government has sat on its hands.
'A ticking timebomb'
“The forecasts suggest further growth of around 30% in the number of passengers using the transport network, and we know that it is already buckling under pressure.
"It’s a ticking timebomb and the Welsh Government needs to work proactively to ensure that the Welsh train network has enough rolling stock to head off this looming crisis.”
Rail expert Ian Walmsley, who managed the Valley Lines fleet in the 1980s, said the government should come clean on not meeting the due date.
“The problem is a direct result of the delay in electrification, but if that delay gives time for the Welsh Government to catch on to tram-trains it will be a blessing in disguise,” he said.
Mr Walmsley and others have argued that tram-trains would suit the Valley Lines for several reasons, including cheaper electrification costs and their ability to extend services beyond the existing rail network by using tram tracks in streets.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... s-10520645
