EBBW VALE AND BEYOND...

It is quite simple really - decisions about railway infrastructure development and spending upon our railways need to be made here in Cymru / Wales, not in Westminster. This already happens in England by default, and in Scotland and Northern Ireland by design. For this to happen in Cymru / Wale then full control of our railways, network rail operations and the network rail budget needs to be devolved to the Senedd.

11% of UK railways, 1% of Network Rail spend...

Thats the first step, a. Full control of planning processes in relation to infrastructure, full control of the all of the railways in Cymru / Wales and full control of network rail and the network rail budget for Cymru / Wales would simply be the first step towards actually giving our embryonic democracy all of the toolset required to do the job properly. 

While that’s not necessarily the relatively easy bit it would be a significant start. The slightly more difficult bit is electing a government that will actually use said tools to actually do the job - of improving, and developing our railway infrastructure.  We simply can not rely on Labour in Wales or any of the other Westminster focused / based political parties to make the case for further powers or to supply the will power and the vision to change things. 

One of the reasons why we have little choice but to use our cars and the M4 to get around Newport (and to go to work) is because of the lack of any reasonable alternative easily accessible means of public transport. Long before Corvid 19 came along, even the Welsh Labour government had finally run out of tired excuses and soft weasel words to hide their inaction and failure to deliver much beyond sound bites and logo laden graphic images. 

A ghost train...

The failure to connect the Ebbw Vale line to Newport means that commuters living in communities in the Ebbw Valley remain unable to travel directly to Newport (and beyond) by train and have little option but to use their cars. They are denied the opportunity of catching connecting trains to Newport, Bristol, London, Cheltenham and beyond as well as possibly travelling slightly more rapidly to Cardiff in the morning and evening as result of the failure to run a fast service direct from Abertillery to Cardiff as originally promised back in 2003. 

This leaves commuters no choice but to drive and feed the congestion of an already at times overcrowded M4. The Ebbw Vale line, at least to Cardiff, which reopened in 2008 (carried a years worth of anticipated passenger numbers in the first four months) has made a real difference to peoples lives. The new rail service failed to connect to Newport from day one despite the implied promises, hints and suggestions made before and since the railway line was reopened that it would. 

Nothing to see here, move along...

Somewhat ironically to all intents and purposes is already operating – as trains already run by stealth on occasions from Ebbw Vale into Newport and vice versa when regular maintenance occurs. The rail line and the signalling work fine – what we need is a regularly timetabled rail service - now rather than later. Long overdue decisions about our infrastructure could make a real and significant difference and begin the process of providing realistic alternatives to everyday car use. 

Elsewhere in our SE, the construction of new railway stations at Caerleon / Ponthir, Llanwern and Magor - with well planned walk routes, and ample safe, secure park and ride facilities would also make a real difference. Any railway stations should also include decent facilities - along with the reinstatement of a more functional bus service (that's directly connected to the new railway stations). 

Elsewhere in Europe where significant housing developments are planned the infrastructure - often railway stations, tram stops and transport hubs are constructed first before any houses are built - but just not here. We should see a real commitment from the new Senedd government in May 2021 to prioritise the addition of  infrastructure before any approval for proposed housing developments is given.

Our transport and infrastructure problems require political solutions and political decisions - something that will not come from the current incumbent inert Labour government in Cardiff Bay. With a post BREXIT (and hopefully a post Corona) world rapidly approaching- some hard sensible sustainable longer term choices need to be made with a degree of urgency - one of those should be to start work on (those parts of) the Metro that will make a real rapid difference to our lives and our communties.