Following on from last month's news that Growth Track 360 had welcomed improvements for the Wrexham to Bidston line in North Wales and the Borders, Transport for Wales has revealed details of the five-point plan.
The plan includes investing in the new depot at Birkenhead to improve the reliability of the new Class 230 trains, improving customer service and making better information available during disruption, and keeping rail-replacement bus services to a minimum.
Feedback has shown that customers want the process of buying tickets to be easy as possible, and the company is reviewing all ticketing options. It is also continuing to review the rail timetable.
During a recent visit to North Wales, James Price, Transport for Wales CEO viewed the new Class 230 trains that operate on the route and toured the train depot in Birkenhead where the new trains are maintained.
James Price, Transport for Wales CEO said: “We understand the frustrations of passengers using the Wrexham to Bidston line over the past few months. First, the line lost its train service due to a safety issue with engines on our trains and this resulted in replacement buses running.
“Following that, we introduced our refurbished Class 230 trains to the line and unfortunately, we've experienced teething problems and technical issues.
“However, I'm happy to announce today that we now have a 5-step improvement plan in place that will focus on stabilising the reliability of our new trains and improving the service.
“I've visited the new depot in Birkenhead that will allow us to carry out maintenance on our Class 230s at a faster pace and have assured myself that we are doing everything possible to see an improvement in the service over the coming months.”
Transport for Wales's five-point plan for its North Wales and the Borders route includes the following commitments:
- A senior rail professional will be dedicated to the route to investigate the issues on the line and develop a long-term plan to improve performance and reliability. The appointment will initially be for three months and will involve creating close and productive relationships with local managers and teams, including Fleet, Drivers, Conductors, Train Planning, Control, Stations, Revenue Protection, Birkenhead North depot, On Train Cleaners, Performance, Facilities, Ops Readiness, as well as developing relationships with local stakeholders, politicians, councillors and user group representatives.
- The Route Officer will work with front-line teams to define the clear engineering actions required to improve the reliability and availability of the Class 230 fleet. To optimise a one-train-per-hour service will include managing the capability to ensure that fully functioning Class 230s are available. The company will also work with Network Rail to agree on timetable access rights. Train crews will also be encouraged to improve their driving styles and gain familiarity with the units amongst train crew to obtain the best performance from them and spot potential problems earlier. An investment has been made in depot facilities at Birkenhead North so that the Class 230s do not need to travel to Chester for maintenance and servicing.
- Transport for Wales commits to keeping the use of rail-replacement buses to a minimum, especially as it recognises the impact that rail replacement has in rural north Wales. Only in exceptional circumstances will trains be reallocated to compensate for train shortages in other areas.
- The timetable and services that run will meet the needs of as many customers as possible. When planning what services to operate, the company will work with stakeholders and customer groups, to ensure that services call at the right stations at the right times.
- Fares and ticketing across North Wales will be reviewed to make buying tickets and travelling as easy as possible. In view of the increasing demand for mobile tickets, the company will investigate all options to simplify their use as possible when travelling into other operators in the area. Although there is currently a problem using some mobile (M) tickets on the Mersey Rail network, the company is working to resolve these as quickly as possible. Transport for Wales is partnering with Pay Zone so that rail tickets can be purchased from local businesses, which provides an economic boost to local shops.
The full plan for improvements can be seen here.
The service is still in chaos as Sunday 2 July I caught a train from Penyffordd to Wrexham at 14010 no issues slightly late but the issue starts on return journey as no one could tell me if train would run from central station at 1907 I chose to go to General station to catch train and met 2 others there waiting for same train of which one tries his app and finds train cancelled and bus replacement service in place which did no turn up after 30 minutes waiting and not being able to speak to anyone on this subject had to get a taxi back to Penyffordd what is it that simple timetables like train or BUS can not be adhered to please explain this to me without bull please
Shame that London Northwestern Railway are not going to continue using the Class 230 on the Marston Vale Line and therefore they are inheriting 3 Class 150s from Northern. But at least that Transport for Wales are starting using the Class 230s on the Borderlands Line.
Effort is futile until the trains run through to Liverpool.