Arriva Trains Wales has told Plaid Cymru AM Lindsay Whittle that it cannot increase capacity on a busy early morning service from the Rhymney Valley to Cardiff – because it does not have enough trains.
The South Wales East AM wrote to the rail company after a complaint about overcrowding on the two-car train which arrives at Aber station at 7.22am.
Mr Whittle said: “The constituent told me that by the time it gets to Cardiff Queen Street it is jam-packed.
“At Heath High Level passengers sometimes cannot board the train and as result, presumably, arrive late at work. That is not good enough and I’m disappointed that in the short-term there are no plans to boost capacity on this service.”
Lindsay Whittle said that he was also aware of significant overcrowding from the Caerphilly area on Six Nations match-days when fans have been left at the station because trains were so crowded.
In a letter to the South Wales East AM, Tim Bell, Arriva’s managing director, said: “Our loading analysis (on the 7.02am from Bargoed to Penarth) indicates that on an average day the seats are taken by Heath and, therefore, there is some standing, albeit for a relatively short period. The following train from Bargoed at 7.17am is a busier train and has four coaches.
“We have recently carried out an extensive review of capacity provision across our network and with the limited number of trains available we have been able to provide an additional 330,000 seats a year spread across some of the busiest services. We do not have enough rolling stock to eliminate crowding on every service, but we are doing as much as we can with the limited amount of stock that we have available.
“We have also been assisting the Welsh Government in preparing the business case for electrification of the Valley Lines network. If this goes ahead, there may be an opportunity to review both rolling stock provision and train lengths, subject to the decision on electrification and the level of rolling stock investment provision made.”
As the directly-elected Assembly Member for Caerphilly, this is an issue on which I have fought long and hard. I have regularly made representations to Arriva Trains Wales (ATW) and the Welsh Government on behalf of constituents. Indeed, the former Plaid Cymru Transport Minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones, is on record commending my hard work on this matter on their behalf.
We’ve made some good progress in recent years with the lengthening of platforms at stations on the Rhymney Valley line, and now work will finally be starting on the much-needed new station at Energlyn. Both of these will work toward reducing capacity problems. However, ATW need to play their part too. The Welsh Government has provided them with the resources for new carriages, but they have chosen to deploy them elsewhere. ATW need to buck up their ideas and improve their performance, and I will continue to hold them to account on this on behalf of my Caerphilly constituents.
The crucial part is, to quote Jeff Cuthbert, “The Welsh Government has provided them with the resources for new carriages”. If this is true then Arriva should be receiving a demand for action from the Welsh Assembly to invest in new stock.
As a passenger I have long been unhappy with the space and level of comfort of the service. Some improvement has been made, there are now more four-car trains on the Rhymney to Cardiff route, but there is a considerable way to go before the service is aceptable. It is ironic that the old ‘slam door’ trains, pulled by diesel locomotives, that ‘Valley Lines’ used for a while some years ago were, by far, the most comfortable and spacious trains used on this service. There was an additional benefit to railway enthusiasts who used to congregate on every station in order to film and photograph these curiosities.
I suggest Jeff views film taken by these enthusiasts and then shows it to the management of Arriva as an illustration of what can be achieved.
Labour are talking through their hats again. Billions are being spent in London on numerous upgrades. £1billion on Tottenham Court Rd underground Station alone and £13billion on Crossrail. These were all started under a Labour UK government. Valleys lines have been crying out for investment for decades. The cattle truck conditions suffered on Valleys lines for years would have created an outcry in London where they have been travelling in new roomy air conditioned electric trains for years.(I know I used to live and commute there until last year) The fundamental problem is that the Welsh government does not have full control of transport and so cannot fulfil their aspirations for a sustainable transport for the 21st century …we are still in the 19th century …. but without the steam
I have a gripe against Mr Editor – and some of you know me as a former journalist. Why show one of the posher trains on our lines, when most are the sort not seen outside south Wales and the North of England? I know full well that you don’t see them in London because they are not good enough. I can well imagine that Arriva does not have the trains…but then they aren’t running in London.
Reading the comments written by `Huw` on this subject, he makes a very good case in support of the English `Tory` Government and their attention to good rail services in that Country in following on from the original Labour Governments plans for Rail services, and, the continued investment in that service.
He is also correct in his comment that Valley lines have been crying out for investment for decades, I wonder if matters would be different if the Welsh Assembly was run by the `Tories`? He concludes that Labour have not undertaken proper investment in Valley Rail services,I presume he agrees that Plaid Cymru have also `taken their eye off the ball` in this respect because we had Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones, One Wales Government’s Deputy First Minister and Minister for Economic Development and Transport in control of such issues for the past four years?. As this is clearly a matter of politics, in the view of `Huw`, perhaps he believes the only party which would do anything about it would be the Lib-Dems, if that is the case then god help us all.