Planned extra trains linking North Wales with Liverpool and …

Transport for Wales (TfW) has dropped plans to expand train services between North Wales and the North West of England. The operator had previously announced it would extend its Liverpool to Chester service to Llandudno ^[1], with one train per hour.

There were also plans to run one train per hour between Bangor ^[2] and Manchester Airport – although this would have affected Llandudno ^[3]. But now TfW says a lack of new trains has meant the changes won’t come in this December.

A newly restored hourly service to and from Liverpool will now terminate Chester rather than Llandudno. The Bangor – Manchester Airport change will also not be introduced, although it is understood this will mean Llandudno will therefore retain its direct services to the airport, which had faced the axe.

The operator said they are also under review so there is no guarantee the changes will ever be made. Clwyd West MS Darren Millar said he was “extremely disappointed” by their announcement.

A spokesperson for TfW said: “We continue to deal with challenges around the introduction of these new trains to the Wales and Borders network and the necessary rail infrastructure changes needed to operate them to improve our timetables. We are working hard with our partners in Network Rail to deliver the infrastructure improvements needed to introduce our brand-new fleet of trains and enhance our timetables.

“In order to deliver some of the uplifts, we need upgrades to take place with some pieces of infrastructure. This includes changes to depots where we store our trains, stopping points at platforms, level crossings, maintenance schedules, signal box opening times and more. We are also working closely with train manufacturers CAF on improving the delivery timescales for our new class 197 trains, which will be used across Wales and Borders to deliver services.

“Due to a number of factors, largely linked to the pandemic, the number of trains we had expected to have delivered and ready for service haven’t arrived with us in time, meaning we don’t have the number we need to deliver some of our timetable uplifts. These challenges mean that some of our committed timetable additions will no longer be taking place in December 2023 as planned.”

They added: “As part of this change for December and recognising new travel patterns in the post-pandemic world, we will also be reviewing longer term commitments to ensure they best meet the demands of customers and are fit for the needs of future generations. The output of the review will be shared with the Welsh Government in the autumn.

“This is to ensure the long term sustainability of the network, and to ensure that our investment has maximum impact on our targets to enable more people to travel sustainably across Wales and its borders. In the meantime we remain committed to introducing new trains across our network over the coming months and improving our punctuality, reliability and performance.”

Mr Millar said: “I have been advocating improved rail links to Manchester Airport for a number of years and was delighted when TfW first announced that they would be introducing more services from North Wales later this year. I am therefore extremely disappointed by their announcement. Improvements to routes between North Wales and airports in both Manchester and Liverpool are critical in connecting businesses and individuals to markets and job opportunities, as well as making international travel easier for people living in North Wales.

“Rail travellers in North Wales were looking forward to these improved links and will be as disappointed as me at the changes. TfW say they are ‘absolutely committed to improving performance and providing enhanced rail services which meet the needs of the customers and communities we serve’, I don’t think people in North Wales will see it that way! How will we ever get people off the roads if we don’t provide a reliable and frequent alternative?”

Find out what’s going on near you

References

^{^} Llandudno (www.dailypost.co.uk)
^{^} Bangor (www.dailypost.co.uk)
^{^} would have affected Llandudno (www.dailypost.co.uk)
^{^} The things that will be banned in Wales in the next 18 months (www.dailypost.co.uk)
^{^} Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter (www.dailypost.co.uk)