Billions of pounds could be spent on a ‘vision’ to improve the railways around Bristol and in South Wales in the next ten years, politicians from both sides of the Channel will announce today (Thursday).
The dream could see up to £8 billion spent with a raft of new stations, services and connections link Bristol and Bath to South Wales, and include cutting the journey time between our city to Cardiff to just half an hour, with four trains an hour between the two cities.
Leaders from South Wales and the West of England are being joined by the Government’s Welsh Secretary to launch the ‘Vision for 2050’, which would see huge improvements to rail services on this side of the Channel, as well as in south Wales.
Read next: New South Wales train stations planned to boost England links and cut M4 traffic
The plan will come in two stages, with between £1 billion and £2 billion spent on short term improvements that have already been largely outlined and will take up to the year 2035 - 12 years’ time - to implement.
These include the first phases of the MetroWest project, which will see the reopening of the Portishead line and the reopening or creation of new commuter stations in Bristol and the surrounding area, and the West of England ‘Transport Corridors’ plan.
The second stage of the ‘2050 Vision’ will see up to £8 billion spent getting the electrification of the Great Western Mainline all the way to Cardiff, expanding the capacity of the Severn Tunnel - which has been a limit on capacity ever since it was opened in 1886.
The ‘vision’ being launched today is for that work to increase capacity to allow up to four trains an hour between Bristol and Cardiff, with journey times reduced from the current 50 minutes to just half an hour. There would also be more trains between Swansea and Bristol too - up to three trains an hour and journey times slashed from 90 minutes to an hour.
The plan is being launched this morning (Thursday, March 22) near Temple Meads station by an organisation called the Western Gateway Partnership - a coalition of local councils who represent communities across South Wales, Bristol, the West of England and as far east as Wiltshire and Swindon.
The vision launch has the backing of David Davies MP, the Secretary of State for Wales, who said he ‘welcomed the ambition’, albeit not with any public guarantee of funding yet.
He said: “Connectivity within South Wales and South West England is vital to growing our regional economy. I welcome the ambition of Western Gateway and am pleased to have recently announced significant funding to help develop a number of key priorities including tackling congestion on the South Wales corridor,” he added.
The Western Gateway Partnership is an attempt by political leaders on both sides of the Bristol Channel to come together and lobby for Government investment in much the same way as leaders in the North of England and the Midlands have done.
A spokesperson for the Partnership pointed out that currently the area of South Wales and the West of England lags behind other parts of the UK with slow train times between major cities like Bristol and Cardiff, which is described as the ‘least well directly connected major city’, by the Government.
Last month, Bristol Live revealed part of the plan proposed by the Western Gateway was to reopen or build new stations on the mainline between Newport and Bristol on the Welsh side of the Severn Tunnel - which would ultimately improve commuter rail services on the Bristol side too, given the increased demand from people who now live in south east Wales and commute to Bristol.
That’s something Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees, who is a board member of the Western Gateway Partnership, referred to as he helped launch the ‘vision’ this morning.
“Better public transport between major cities like Bristol and Cardiff, along with wider investment in intercity transport, is essential to decarbonise and grow our economy,” he said. “With over 80,000 car journeys taking place over the M4 Prince Of Wales Bridge every day, and predictions that this will increase, we desperately need long term solutions. I am proud of the cross-party leadership we have been able to provide through our partnership of local leaders and businesses.
“Developments like the £95 million we secured for Bristol’s Temple Meads and Temple Quarter show how investment in our area’s transport can drive wider regeneration providing a gateway to Wales and South West England. I look forward to making the case for central government to back this vision to unlock the full potential of our Western Gateway area,” he added.
The Partnership today pointed out to the Government that its £8 billion plan to improve rail connections across the region could be compared to the Northern Powerhouse Rail programme which is estimated to cost £17.2bn and HS2 which is likely to cost £72.3bn in total.
The vice chair of the Partnership is Cllr Toby Savage, the Conservative leader of South Gloucestershire Council. “Working with our transport bodies and industry, we have a huge opportunity here to vastly improve connections across the border between England and Wales,” he said.
“Through our partnership, we’ve identified many shared strengths between both countries and these sectors will get a huge boost through an improved rail service. It has been a difficult time for rail in recent months, but this vision gives a deliverable long-term ambition, putting confidence in our nation to build back better. With more journeys between Bristol and Cardiff than Leeds and Manchester, we know the demand is there and believe it is time Government acknowledged that our area should be next in line for investment to unlock our potential,” he added.
Read More
- Hope for investment in region's railway
- YTL Arena Bristol's impact on transport and parking up for public consultation
- Bristol Beacon revamp costs spiral again by £25m to £132m
- New North Filton train station near Bristol arena 'needs higher frequency' of services
- Temple Quarter needs to be 'shaped by Bristolians'
- Empty land behind Temple Meads station could become two hotels and 108 flats
- North Filton Station gets green light as approval fast-tracked by council
- What the scrapping of Severn Bridge tolls means for house prices
Follow the latest updates on this story and others like it here.
