Passengers in South West Wales are on track to get improved
rail journeys, as the UK Government seeks views of people
in Carmarthen and Swansea on how they want the Great
Western rail service to look in the future.
The UK Government has launched a consultation on
the future of the Great Western Franchise and is asking
passengers, businesses and local councils for their views
at two consultation events on 13 February 2018.
Join the conversation at:
- The Atrium, Gorseinon Development Trust, Gorseinon,
Swansea between 2pm – 4pm
- Teifi Suite, Halliwell Centre, UWTSD Carmarthen Campus
between 6pm – 8pm
Billions of pounds are being spent to upgrade services for
passengers on Great Western, which carries 100 million
passengers a year and stretches from London to Pembroke
Dock and from Portsmouth to Worcester.
Passengers are already experiencing improvements to their
journeys across south Wales on brand-new bi-mode IEP trains
which provide more seats and more comfortable journeys.
Timetable changes will also mean faster and more frequent
trips on many routes by 2019.
In order to ensure that the next Great Western Rail
franchise is delivering what people want, Secretary of
State for Wales is calling on people to
attend the UK Government events in Carmarthen and Swansea
to have their say on how future services can be better
shaped to deliver for passengers in south west Wales.
Secretary of State for Wales said:
Our railways provide vital links for rural communities,
businesses and visitors across south Wales. It makes
perfect sense that those that use the services every day
should have their say in improving these services.
This consultation discusses ways in which we can give the
professionals who run our railways more flexibility to
innovate and to provide the best solutions for
passengers. We want to hear your views about how you’d
like that to work in practice and what can be done to
improve it.
The UK Government has decided to extend the franchise for
the current operator Great Western Railway (GWR) until
March 2020 to make sure passengers get the best possible
service while current route upgrades are carried out.
And we will also seek to agree terms for them to continue
operating until 2022, which will to allow the improved
services to bed in fully before running a competition for a
new long-term franchise.
Secretary of State for Wales added:
The UK Government is investing in the biggest
modernisation of the railways for over a century. Working
with GWR, we are bringing the very latest in rail
technology to some of the world’s oldest lines, putting
passengers first so that they benefit from a
transformational programme of upgrades as quickly as
possible.
The benefits of these improvements will be felt right
across the franchise area. But as the franchise continues
to grow into the 2020s, we want to ensure every line,
station and passenger remains central to the train
operator’s strategy. This consultation asks passengers
how they want their railway to look into the 2020s and
beyond and how it will best deliver for them.
The consultation will
close on 21 February.
