14 Oct 2019
Today, Transport for Wales reaches its first-year anniversary since taking responsibility for rail services across Wales and the Borders, which marked the beginning of their £5 billion investment programme.
Over the past twelve months, TfW have put the customer at the heart of their decisions and as a thank you to them, they’re offering 20% off advance tickets bought between 14 and 20 October for travel up until 26 November.
Some of the key highlights over the year include the creation of the advanced fare initiative, making it cheaper for journeys over 50 miles; delay repay 15 was launched so that customers can claim for delays of 15 minutes or more and the implementation of new performance measures designed to provide a more reliable and punctual service.
TfW also began their £194 million plan to improve every railway station across their network and committed to spend more than £600,000 a year on Community Rail Partnerships, creating community ambassador roles, that will be responsible for promoting regional tourism and local economic growth.
James Price, Transport for Wales CEO said;
“It has been an exciting and challenging first year and we are proud to have started transforming the rail service for the people of Wales through delivering on our promises.
“We are implementing some ambitious programmes that will help us to improve the customer experience. Work has started on our railway stations; modernising them, making them safer and more accessible for local businesses and communities. We successfully reintroduced regular passenger services along the Halton Curve, providing 215 new services per week and connecting Wrexham with Liverpool by rail for the first time in 40 years.
“We have introduced additional trains to our network and our December timetable change will bring further increases in capacity across our busiest routes.
“Behind the scenes, there has been detailed planning and preparation work going on for the delivery of Metro services across Wales, the introduction of brand-new trains and the vision to create a fully integrated transport network.
“As well as our customers, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our staff for their dedication over the year and also thank the partners and businesses that we’ve worked with.”
Ken Skates, Minister for Economy and Transport, said:
“One year into our ambitious journey of rail improvement I believe it is important to recognise the progress that has been made. There have been the start of new services and new advanced fares and we will soon see extra capacity being added to some of our busiest lines. We’ve also outlined an ambitious £194m package of investment to improve every station in Wales.
“It’s clear that there are significant challenges and this journey will take time, but we have ambitious plans to transform transport across Wales to deliver a fully integrated network, with customers at the heart of everything. We have outlined a vision for a transformed railway across Wales – including the development of Metro systems - and Transport for Wales will continue to have an essential role to play in helping to deliver this.”
Notes to editors
Transport for Wales – Achievements 12 months in
First fare initiative launched
We’ve created over 3000 new advanced fares, making rail travel cheaper than ever for many journeys over 50 miles.
Successfully launched new services
Through the reopening of the Halton Curve track, we’ve launched 215 new services per week, connecting Wrexham with Liverpool by rail for the first time in 40 years and providing an hourly link between Cheshire and Liverpool. The improved connectivity will provide a major economic boost for the region.
Delay Repay 15
For the first time ever, rail customers in Wales and the Borders can claim for delays of just 15 minutes. A 15-minute delay is a big deal to our customers so this is a huge benefit to them and shows our recognition of that.
Additional train capacity
In May, we introduced additional rolling stock, including the return of loco-hauled Class 37 trains to provide extra capacity on the Rhymney Line. More additional trains are due to arrive in time for our December timetable change, including 12 modern Class 170 trains.
Community Rail Vision Launch
The vision will see new Community Rail Partnerships set up across the entire Wales and Borders network to promote and encourage rail use in communities. More than £600,000 will be invested every single year, with 22 new community ambassador roles created alongside marketing roles which will focus on promoting regional tourism and local economic growth. You can read the vision here.
New performance measures
Our passengers deserve a high quality, reliable and punctual service, so we have introduced a new suite of targets around train performance, that are passenger focused and bespoke to TfW. These include measuring passenger time lost, short formations, and the percentage of station stops missed.
Created 120 new jobs
Transport for Wales has created more than 120 new jobs since it took over running rail services in Wales and the borders in 2018. They range from engineering and design roles to customer service and cleaning positions. You may also have seen our staff in our recent TV advertising campaign.
Concessionary Travel Cards
We have achieved a key milestone in our first all-Wales bus project. TfW is leading the roll-out of a new-style Concessionary Travel Card, to ensure consistency across Wales. The 22 local authorities began issuing the new-style Concessionary Travel Cards to new applicants on 17 June, and holders have been able to apply for the new cards since September.
Station Improvement Vision Launch
In September, we launched our Station Improvement Vision. We’re investing £194 million in every station across the Wales and Borders network, including improved passenger information, new signage, better platform shelters and better cycle storage facilities. We’re also making our stations safer, with CCTV installed at all stations.
South Wales Metro
We’ve started work on the first stages of the South Wales Metro project. Detailed planning and preparation is underway, and we’ve also started work on site at both the new Metro tram-train depot at Taff’s Well and the new infrastructure depot in Treforest.
