Transport for Wales behind on delivering 77 new trains this year …

Transport for Wales (TfW) has fallen behind its target to introduce 77 new trains this year, Mark Drakeford has confirmed. The First Minister said that, of the 77 new trains that were expected to have already been rolled out this year, only 33 have been delivered and are operating on rail services so far.

Mr Drakeford said delays with the manufacturer which were outside of TfW's control had contributed to the slow rollout, but added that the delivery of a new train every seven to 10 days will accelerate the replacement of old stock. Mr Drakeford made the comments while speaking to MPs during an appearance at the Welsh Affairs Committee on Wednesday morning.

He told the committee: “By today, we were expecting to have 77 new trains, trains which would run on that South Wales to Manchester line. For many complex reasons, and the pandemic is certainly part of that picture, the manufacturer has only been able to deliver 33 of those trains to date. This means that Transport for Wales has had to keep running rolling stock which it had planned to retire.”

“The good news is that one new train is now being delivered to Transport for Wales every seven to 10 days, and so the ability of transport for Wales to substitute the new rolling stock for the old rolling stock will accelerate," he added. Asked whether he was satisfied with the service since the Welsh Government took over Wales’ rail services under TfW, the First Minister said: “Services are not as good as we want them to be and Transport for Wales has a job to do to improve the services.”

He defended the Welsh Government-owned rail company's performance, saying that it had improved last month and into October. “Transport for Wales are confident that that improvement will continue during the rest of this calendar year and into 2024, as they are able to deploy the new trains that were expected to have been here and operating already,” he said.

Mr Drakeford’s appearance at the committee was his fourth this parliament. He previously appeared in March 2021, March 2022 and November 2022.

The first of the brand new £800m fleet of trains were unveiled by Transport for Wales in January this year. The 77 (51 two-car and 26 three-car) new Class 197 trains are currently being built in Wales by train manufacturer CAF, with the first trains rolled out into passenger service on the Conwy Valley line at the end of 2022.

Transport for Wales has said the new trains will provide an increase in capacity and allow the company to run faster and more frequent services to destinations such as Holyhead, Fishguard and Liverpool. In addition, 71 brand new trains and tram-trains are being built for the South Wales Metro, the first of which have already entered into passenger service.

A total of 148 brand new trains will deliver faster, more frequent and greener services, said TfW. However, the building of new rolling stock has been held up by the pandemic which has affected supply chains. While the electric tram-trains for the South Wales Metro cannot launch until the electrification of the Valley Lines has completed.

Most other trains continue to run on diesel due to the majority of the Welsh network where TfW runs its trains not being electrified. The south Wales mainline to Swansea had been due to be electrified before the investment was scrapped by Theresa May in 2017.

Earlier this week, Transport for Wales launched a consultation on design plans for five new train stations on the south Wales mainline. The stations were recommended by the South Wales Transport Commission, chaired by Lord Burns, tasked with identifying ways to increase integrated public transport provision after the Welsh Government’s decision not to build the M4 Relief Road between Cardiff and Newport back in 2019.

The cost of delivering the five new stations has yet to be finalised. However, it is not the cost of building stations, but also the required significant investment needed in realigning existing track, gantries being move, as well as upgrading relief lines. This could potentially see a final bill of around £250m to £300m.

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Rebecca Evans increased funding to TfW by £125m to "safeguard services for passengers and continue the programme of transformation currently underway".

She said rail services are facing cost pressures, particularly as home working means fewer passengers are commuting to work on the trains.

References

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