West Wales gets nothing says MS as Senedd debates reopening railway lines

Tindle News

Watch West Wales gets nothing says MS as Senedd debates reopening railway lines - Tindle News on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00I guess the debate we don't really have is about the choices we need to make.

00:04Because instead of thinking about just one mode of travel, constantly focusing on rail,

00:08we need to think about multimodal, integrated transport.

00:12And it'll be different in different places.

00:14We do know about rail that it is very expensive.

00:17We all deeply regret the decision to get rid of these railway lines in the first place,

00:21and it shouldn't have happened.

00:22But now it has happened.

00:24The cost of restoring them is very significant.

00:26And once the money is spent once, you can't spend it on something else, obviously.

00:31But the feasibility study that the petition refers to into the Avonwen to Carnarvon line

00:36and looking alongside at the outline costs of a Camar then to a Bristwith line

00:44showed that the indicative costs for restoring both of these is in the region of £2 billion.

00:50Now, that's £2 billion we don't have to spend on all the other transport priorities we have in Wales.

00:55And as the research clearly shows, the number of passengers that would be carried by these train services

01:02would be relatively few, which means that the ongoing cost is not just the £2 billion to build it,

01:07but the ongoing subsidy, the revenue cost for running those services, which would be significant.

01:13Now, that may be a choice that the Senate wants to make, but it needs to be clear,

01:17the governors to choose, that's a choice you're making over and above something else.

01:22And as the study pointed out, you can achieve significant improvements in public transport,

01:27particularly between Bangor and Carnarvon with a light rail option and a rapid coach service,

01:33which would cut some 90 minutes off the current north-south trip.

01:37And that's much more modest cost of something like £4.5 million to set up

01:42and a £2 million annual running cost.

01:45It's not as romantic as a railway, it's not as nice as a railway.

01:48We all like to travel by train, but there are real trade-offs that we need to face,

01:53and it needs to be an air of reality in this debate.

01:55Janet Finch Saunders's contribution was a classic of its type.

01:58It said very little and wanted to keep all options open,

02:00while sounding as if she supported all of them.

02:02South-east Wales will receive five new stations near Cardiff and Newport,

02:06while north-east Wales will see improved links near Wrexham.

02:11West Wales, as we've heard already from Sian, gets nothing.

02:16So it's the same old story.

02:18Wales gets little, West Wales gets less,

02:23and Labour are ignoring, letting down and holding back the people

02:28that I represent in south-west Wales, in Carmarthonshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion.

02:34The source required is enormous.

02:37Heavy rail solutions require significant...

02:40Yes, of course.

02:41First of all, you mentioned the North Wales Metro,

02:44but there's nothing in do with our myrionydd for the North Wales Metro

02:47that doesn't benefit the communities I represent.

02:49And you mentioned the new trains that are coming online,

02:52but you've cut trains on the Cambrian line,

02:55so there's no new trains for us there.

02:57But when you say it's an enormous resource, and it will cost,

03:01last week we heard Mark Drakeford, the Finance Minister,

03:05say that the government asked for money from the spending review and they got it.

03:10Why didn't he ask for money to build on the plans that have been put forward here

03:14in order to develop the proposals for the Afonwen Bangor and for the Aberystwyth Cymaddon line?

03:19I'll just provide a backdrop to the comprehensive spending review.

03:26That provides spending for a three-year period.

03:29Three-year period develops and delivers some infrastructure,

03:32but if you're looking at long-term programs,

03:35then it's delivery money that you need,

03:36which was provided in the comprehensive spending review.

Category

Transcript

Recommended