Unveiled at last week’s Welsh Public Transport Summit, the plan includes rail infrastructure projects, extra services and Pay as You Go ticketing
Network North Wales forms an ambitious plan to upgrade transport in North Wales
Ambitious rail proposals for North Wales for the next decade and beyond were announced by Ken Skates, Welsh cabinet secretary for transport and North Wales, at the first Welsh Public Transport Summit last week.
The £2.1bn Network North Wales plan includes rail infrastructure projects, additional services and Pay as You Go ticketing. Skates also announced at the summit in Wrexham that he had instructed Transport for Wales to prepare to order more new trains. TfW is currently introducing an £800m new fleet, along with cascaded trains, to increase capacity by 65% compared with 2018, but Skates expects that more will be needed within five years. A new order would enable TfW to withdraw more of its legacy trains.
Underlining the importance of cooperation between governments and regions, the summit brought together leaders and transport officers from both sides of the England-Wales border, which is crossed every day by thousands of people – mostly in cars and vans.
Skates said the Wrexham to Bidston ‘Borderlands Line’ will be renamed the ‘Wrexham to Liverpool Line’ this year, as a signal of the commitment to extending the service to the Liverpool underground loop by 2035.
In December 2023, the line’s service was increased from hourly to every 40 minutes. This improved reliability, because the previous service had inadequate turnaround times, and passenger numbers increased.
For the two trains per hour (2tph) service which was previously due to commence
in December 2021, track alterations are needed at the entrance to a cement works to allow faster access and exit by freight trains.
Network North Wales promises a partnership agreement within six months on funding for the alterations and delivery within three years, to enable a “reliable” 2tph service. By 2035, 4tph between Wrexham and Liverpool are envisaged.
A 50% uplift in TfW services on the North Wales main line west of Chester, also promised in the 2018 Wales and Borders franchise announcement, is now expected to start in May 2026. It has been delayed by safety problems at pedestrian level crossings, where Network Rail now plans to institute temporary alternatives and crossing keepers pending funding for permanent new footbridges.
Also in May 2026, services between the cities of Chester and Wrexham will double to 2tph with the extension of the current Crewe to Chester shuttle.
Network North Wales will require funding from the UK Government, which has not devolved Welsh rail infrastructure to Cardiff Bay except for the Core Valley Lines. Skates said he was confident that Wales would do well from the Comprehensive Spending Review next month, and stressed the importance of developing business cases now so that they are ready when funding becomes available. He announced funding for preparatory work on North Wales electrification and on step-free access schemes at Shotton and Ruabon stations.
Network North Wales also includes the replacement of the 51/X51 bus service between Rhyl, Ruthin and Wrexham with a TrawsCymru T13, operating hourly instead of two-hourly between Ruthin and Wrexham.
The other firm bus commitment in Network North Wales is to new bus services for access to employment in Wrexham and Deeside. Skates recently said in the Senedd that economic inactivity in places like Wrexham’s Caia Park estate was exacerbated by a lack of bus access to the nearby Wrexham Industrial Estate.
No references were made at the summit to the severance, in January, of the decades-old bus route between Mold and Ellesmere Port after councils each side of the border decided to fund separate and disconnected bus services.
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
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