http://news. bbc.co.uk/ 2/hi/uk_news/ wales/6180746. stm Free rural rail hope for elderly Free rail travel may be made available to pensioners using some rural lines, the assembly government has announced. Enterprise Minister Andrew Davies said pilot projects would run on rural stretches of the Heart of Wales Line and the Conwy Valley Line. Free bus travel is already available to pensioners and disabled people with more than 530,000 passes distributed. Other stretches of railway in rural Wales could be included in the scheme if the trials are successful. The initiative follows studies which show that rail travel is a more viable and effective in some rural areas than bus services. The trial will tale place on stretches of the Heart of Wales line, which runs through Powys, and the Conwy Valley line in 2007. “If these pilots are successful the assembly government would look to extend them next to the Cambrian Coast, Borderlands (Wrexham- Bidston) and Shrewsbury-Chester lines,” said Mr Davies. ‘Delighted’ Gwynedd councillor Trevor Roberts, who is also chair of Taith, the north Wales consortium of local authorities, called it “really exciting news”. He added: “Those with a bus pass in the rural areas served by the railway will benefit greatly, particularly along the Conwy Valley line between Blaenau Ffestiniog and the coast which I am delighted to say will be one of the first in Wales to benefit.” It was also welcomed by the Association of Community Rail Partnership (Acorp). “The association has argued that concessionary travel should be available to pensioners and the disabled using not only buses but also community rail services which can often be the sole public transport facility in an area,” said Neil Buxton, general manager. "We are delighted that the assembly government are proposing to support concessionary fares on both road and selected community rail lines. "We hope that this will set a precedent for the rest of
To put this in to context, the present UK Government has already announced that senior citizens will get free bus travel next year, but not free rail travel. This has alarmed some rail campaigners, who see at as proof that the government has a hidden agenda to axe rural rail services. But the Welsh assembly (like its Scottish counterpart) is commited to developing rail and has I think done this to show its commitment.
I fear that Andrew Davies, the Welsh Assembly Government responsible for, inter alia, Transport matters, wouldn’t seem to use “his” railway service at all. He called Arriva Trains Wales’s new Timetable “imaginative” on its introduction a few months ago, but “imaginative” would be the last adjective I’d use for the Sudoku style timetable which helps minimise Arriva’s inputs of rolling stock and train crews, but at the expense of slowing journey times to the point where Model T Ford drivers and energetic cyclists might actually beat our trains to get where they want to go!!
He has an election coming up next May, whein it’s likely that the grey haired voters that’ll turn out, and Labour needs all the votes it can get if it wants to hang on in Cardiff.
Martin
“The initiative follows studies which show that rail travel is a more viable and effective in some rural areas than bus services.” Above was the part that I was interested in. I’d like to see those studies. If the conclusions are as represented they wold make an interesting injection into the Amtrak debate. LC
I would word that differently. “Brits to take more hard earned resources from workers so selected people get a free ride at the workers expense”.
ndbprr, I can’t argue your point! But being a newbie geezer, I might like to be able to abuse the privilege! Also, It might send me to various web sites for 411 on trips to the UK this coming summer, seeing/riding tourist rail lines, sampling single malt whisky at Scottish distilleries, and riding inter city125s for nothing!
Yes, it’s called re-distribution of wealth. Then again there are many who would argue that the over 60’s have paid their share of taxes in their time so are entitled to a few perks in their old age. To Those reliant on just the UK state pension of £65 a week, it certainly makes a difference.
To put things into perspective, for much of its length, the Central Wales line serves towns and villages with no regular public bus services, and the portion most likely to be benefit is that between Llandovery and Knighton, perhaps as far as Craven Arms (apologies, I live 90 miles from Craven Arms, so obviously can’t confirm whether they have regular 'bus services in the Teme and Clun Valleys area). But between the sparsity of service (only 4 trains each way daily), and the the low population of that area, the volume of over-60s actually taking up this offer might not be great.
Although speaking as someone who breaks 60 in August next year, and might possibly benefit from cheaper trips now and then, I do fear this initiative might end up causing the tail to wag the dog. Because the number of drivers and trains available to run the service is essentially fixed, service timetablers might in future consider Dai and Blodwen’s free weekly trip to Llandrindod to meet up with Will and Bessie to be more worthy (and better vote-catching) than re-prioritising so that the young people of east Carmarthenshire / west Glamorgan, the most populous area served by the line, might get easier and more reliable access to the Higher Education facilities, jobs, entertainment attractions, etc., etc., in Cardiff and its suburbs, where it seems all the (Welsh) public investment has been concentrated in recent years.
It is ironic that when the UK’s coal and steel industries were flourishing, local passenger services in those areas were suppressed so as to cope with all the freight traffic on offer. The railways serving the parts of the UK that weren’t blessed with coal, however, had to work much, much, harder to attract and retain passenger traffic to generate revenue, and it’s no wonder that the former Southern Railway was so good and so successful. Now that coal and steel are a shadow of their importance in employment and traffic generation, rai
MArtin,
You make some interesting points there. How far north would your proposed more frequent commuter service run? Llandovery?
I gather the line from Pantyffynon to Gwaun-caer-Gwuan is reopening in the spring as a result of one of the mines it served re-opening. There was a group trying to re-open this line as a heritage line with a possible passenger service.
On days when there’s a Rugby International on in Cardiff they do run at least one extra train, which does the normally freight only east curve where the Central Wales line joins the Swanseas District line, and thence to Cardiff. (Strictly speaking the Swansea District branches off the Central Wales, as that portion of the Central Wales, the LLanelli and Mnyd Mawr was the first line in Wales to use steam locos on a regular basis, opening in 1828).
Finally, and digressing slightly, I dont know if there’s a regular bus service in the Clun Valley, but during the annual Clun Valley Beer Festival, which takes place the first weekend in October, the participating pubs lay on a free bus service which connects with Central Wales line trains at Broome. If only they ran the buses over to Craven Arms, that would be more useful!
Tulyar,
I can’t honestly say that a “more frequent commuter service” is on my wish list, rather that the first southbound / last northbound be re-timed to serve the people who, more and more, need to travel to the Cardiff area for educational purposes and to seek better paid careers. Asking for more trains, as things stand, is seriously unrealistic, but then asking for a service to enable people to do a day’s work, or attend lectures, or attend business meetings, or see a Medical Consultant, etc., etc., is hardly asking for the moon. Can you imagine if the good people of SE England couldn’t get to London by 8.45 or so, and have a train home at the end of the business day? It wouldn’t be a case of blood on the carpet, there’d be blood on the moon !
I just think that if we have 4 trains each way supported by the public purse, then we should minimise the call on the public purse by making as many of those services attractive to travellers who, all along, might have been willing and able to pay full fare in return for a decent service. There’s nothing worse than pointless trains (pleas excuse the pun). In past years, Central Wales fares have had to be discounted to boost patronage. Now the suggestion is offer free travel. What a way to run a railway !!
The last excursion from Llandovery / Llandeilo in connection with rugby internationals ran back in the 1960s - perhaps you’re mixing them up with the specials for the Royal Welsh Show.