Here in Cymru / Wales we face number of pressing problems, covid aside, the lack of affordable housing, the weaknesses of our economy, the inherent problems with our 19th planning system with its out of touch focus on unitary development plans, and the lack of decent affordable integrated public transport, which are all part of the problem we face.
For serious times, we need serious government and serious leadership. We lack both at all levels of government. If the governments in Cardiff and London were serious about public transport then our railways then some serious consideration should be given to looking at reconnecting some of our towns to the rail network. A good follow on would be reconnecting Caernarfon, Dolgellau and Builth Wells to the network, and reopening the line to Llangefni and Amlwch on Ynys Mon.
Locally the re-opening / construction of stations at Caerleon / Ponthir (a well sited, well connected station could serve both communities well), Magor and Llanwern should be priorities. We also need to improving North – South rail communications and rebuild and re-open the Carmarthen to Aberystwyth line. We also need to get road freight off our roads and back onto our railways.
In the south east, we need Abergavenny and Chepstow railway stations to be real gateways, with fully integrated local bus services. We need better facilities at Severn Tunnel Junction and Caldicot railway stations and the provision of safe secure parking facilities. We need feasibility studies into the development of a Parkway Station at Little Mill and the possibilities of re-opening the railway line from Little Mill to Usk and the development of a new railway station at Usk.
The final stage of the rail-link from Ebbw Vale to Newport needs to be completed and along with new railway stations at Caerleon / Ponthir and Magor would help to reduce road congestion. Such developments would provide a regular rail service to local residents and reduce the ever increasing traffic burden from already overcrowded roads. The re-opening of Pontrilas Railway station (in south Herefordshire) for passenger traffic (and timber shipments) would also help, as would a feasibility study into developing regional rail freight services, removing heavy Lorries from local roads.
A lack of coherent governance in Cymru / Wales may explain, why when it comes to railways in Cymru / Wales, there is a tendency to focus on anniversaries of rail closures rather than anniversaries of openings. This could be because transport policy was something that was done to us rather than done for us or done by us. I mention this, because back in 2012 I noticed that a plaque had been unveiled marking the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the railway in Knighton (Powys).
The spectacular 22-mile section of the Heart of Wales line from Craven Arms, Shropshire, to Knighton was constructed in 1861, and managed to avoid being closed in the 1950's and 1960's. A £5m project which upgraded parts of this rural railway was finished in 2011, which reinstated five passing loops at Knighton, Llandrindod Wells and Llanwrtyd Wells in Powys, and at Llandovery and Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire. This was a small but positive step which could, which with extra services could lead to more regular and better used trains.
In the last twenty one years in Wales there have been two successful railway re-openings carried out by Network Rail at the request of the National Assembly; the Vale of Glamorgan Railway Line (re-opened on Friday 10th June 2005) and the Ebbw Valley Railway Line (partially re-opened on Wednesday 6th February 2008).
Being brutally honest these were administrative rather than legislative projects, this has not been the case in Scotland, where bills to reopen old railways were vigorously debated, scrutinised, amended and passed by the Scottish Parliament. If we are serious about integrated public transport then we are going to have to get serious about how we are going to develop and redevelop our public transport infrastructure.
We face a future where relatively cheap fuel will be a thing of the past, so we need to ensure that all our communities have reasonable access to a reliable cheap system of integrated public transport, at the heart of which needs to be our long neglected rail network.
The Transport (Wales) Act which came into effect in February 2006 gave the then National Assembly powers to plan and co-ordinate an integrated transport system. New railway stations in Cymru / Wales are mostly (not not entirely) down to seeking approval from Westminster - almost as if devolution does not exist.
The old excuses about a lack of funding (despite the banking related financial crisis) from Westminster are no longer acceptable; Wales making up 5% of the population of the UK, and makes significant contributions to the exchequer over the years - so we need 5% of the UK transport spend, and full control of our transport planning and our transport budget.
If the current Governments in London and Cardiff are serious about cutting carbon emissions and reducing road congestion then we also need work to get heavy goods back onto our railways. There is no quick fix, but, the time for excuses is over, we need to plan for the future. This may not be cheap but it can be done if the political will is there, as has happened in Scotland, where there is a useful combination of the will, the funding and interested private partners.
Now let's be honest, with all the best will in the world this is not going to work well, even with the current inert visionless Labour in Wales / Lib Dem coalition government in Cardiff and, as far as Cymru / Wales is concerned an indifferent / hostile Conservative government in Westminster that is openly hostile to the concept of devolution and to the very existence of Cymru / Wales’s very existence.
The underlying problem is that devolutionary governance can no more be half devolved anymore than someone can be half free. A flawed devolutionary half-way house just won't work anymore, it will not deliver or even give us the chance to deliver, even with the weak / incomplete / flawed legislative powers that the Senydd has.
The changes and reforms that are necessary to fix the problems in our country, to give Cymru / Wales the tools to do the job, are unlikely to be gained anytime soon. Even were Cymru / Wales to gain the legislative powers, any future Welsh government would still be in some sort of half devolved limbo state of governance, lacking a fair financial settlement.
Cymru / Wales need a fair financial settlement, full control of Network Rails budget and priorities within Cymru / Wales so we can construct a decent system of integrated public transport. This is what has happened in Scotland, where significant strides have been made to reopen, redevelop and build a coherent and integrated public transport system, partially due to the fact that Scotland has full control over Network Rails budget and priorities in Scotland.
The other significant difference between Cymru / Wales and Scotland, aside from geography, lies with our current government in Cardiff Bay. Even if the Labour in Wales / Lib Dem coalition government in Cardiff wanted to do any of this they cannot - they don’t have the powers too, and more importantly they simply lack the political will or necessary vision to even try. How much longer do we have to wait to see some sort of coherent transport plan for Cymru / Wales, let alone the vision?
Devolution, as is, simply won’t work with the current Westminster Conservative governments 18th century vision of the Union - basically a Greater England - complete with a compliant quit Cymru / Wales which sits as an adjunct to the west of England fulfilling the function as an add on to Bristol with cheaper housing and convenient areas of outstanding national beauty for leisure activities. Making a observation, that as dominion status is not in the offing, even within a new Brit Empire 2.0, then Independence is the only remaining sensible option.
