Transport for Wales (TfW) is reminding residents that they have one more month to respond to a consultation on its plans for five new railway stations in South East Wales and better cross-border train services.
TfW opened the consultation in October, and it will continue until Sunday 14 January.
Transport for Wales is seeking feedback on designs and facilities for planned stations at Cardiff East, Newport West, Somerton, Llanwern and Magor and Undy.
The consultation is available here.
TfW is also seeking the public's views about proposed new train services between Cardiff, Bristol and Cheltenham Spa. These would provide the new stations with up to four trains per hour and more trains at existing local stations on the route.
The detailed proposal for increased train services is:
- one train per hour TfW services between Cardiff, Newport and Cheltenham Spa, calling at all stations
- an additional one train per hour service between Cardiff, Newport and Cheltenham Spa, calling at all stations
- two trains per hour (thirty-minute internal) service between Cardiff, Newport and Bristol Temple Meads calling all stations except for Pilning in Gloucestershire; these trains will be additional to the existing two trains per hour ‘fast' services.
The Welsh government has funded the consultation, and further funding is now needed to carry out the work. TfW believes that the proposals will create new opportunities for direct local and cross-border public transport on both sides of the Severn.
In 2019, the South East Wales Transport Commission investigated sustainable ways to tackle congestion on the M4 in south-east Wales, and found many people can not access good transport alternatives to the motorway. It concluded that south-east Wales needs significant new transport options.
The Commission then drafted these proposals, which form part of the South Wales Mainline Programme, an initiative led by TfW which aims to improve railway journeys. The UK government funded the development of the proposals as part of the Union Connectivity review.
TfW held a series of drop-in events last month, which allowed members of the public to discuss the designs and service proposals with the project teams.
More information is available here.
Geoff Ogden, Chief Transport Planning and Development Officer at Transport for Wales said, “For us, unlocking the capability of the South Wales mainline is key to changing how people travel in the region.
“We're proud to share our proposals for five new stations between Cardiff Central and Severn Tunnel Junction that together with the new services will offer more people the opportunity to travel on the railway.
“We know that these designs will improve with public feedback andhat's why we're asking people who haven't to date to share their thoughts and complete the survey.”
What is happening with the Class 175 DMUs as seen on this picture that TfW aren’t going to use them anymore and have been replaced by the Class 197, Class 231 and Class 756. Are they to be moved for storage and to be unused and possibly face being scrapped or is TfW going to keep some of them to use them in West Wales and North Wales. And to transfer the rest of them to GWR or SWR.
Hopefully not just new stations to be built but also electrification as well including electrification to Chepstow and possible electrification to Swansea.