Consultation display
Inquiry into the Priorities for the future of Welsh Rail Infrastructure
- This consultation has completed. It ran from Thursday, 12 November 2015 to Thursday, 14 January 2016
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Response to the consultation
Evidence submitted in response to this Consultation
- WRI 01 Railfuture Wales PDF 2 MB
- WRI 02 Neston Town Council PDF 565 KB
- WRI 03 Resident of Marshfield PDF 39 KB View as HTML (3) 7 KB
- WRI 04 Rail Freight Group PDF 97 KB View as HTML (4) 37 KB
- WRI 05 Greengauge 21 PDF 87 KB View as HTML (5) 31 KB
- WRI 06 Merseytravel PDF 221 KB View as HTML (6) 43 KB
- WRI 07 Heart of Wales Line Forum PDF 80 KB View as HTML (7) 22 KB
- WRI 08 Wrexham-Birkenhead Rail Users’ Association PDF 555 KB
- WRI 09 Transport Focus PDF 486 KB
- WRI 10 Great Western Railway PDF 111 KB View as HTML (10) 42 KB
- WRI 11 Gloucestershire County Council PDF 57 KB View as HTML (11) 16 KB
- WRI 12 North Cheshire Rail Users’ Group PDF 130 KB View as HTML (12) 113 KB
- WRI 12a North Cheshire Rail Users’ Group - Addendum PDF 52 KB View as HTML (13) 6 KB
- WRI 13 Shrewsbury Aberystwyth Rail Passengers' Association (SARPA) PDF 51 KB View as HTML (14) 17 KB
- WRI 14 Cheshire West and Chester Council PDF 90 KB View as HTML (15) 28 KB
- WRI 15 North Wales Economic Ambition Board PDF 4 MB
- WRI 16 Federation of Small Businesses Wales PDF 328 KB
- WRI 17 DB Shenker Rail (UK) PDF 86 KB View as HTML (18) 33 KB
- WRI 18 CITB Cymru Wales PDF 419 KB
- WRI 19 All-Party Parliamentary Group for Mersey Dee North Wales PDF 106 KB View as HTML (20) 14 KB
- WRI 20 Wrexham County Borough Council PDF 3 MB
- WRI 21 Regional Transport Forum for South West Wales PDF 140 KB
- WRI 22 Prof Stuart Cole PDF 188 KB View as HTML (23) 139 KB
- WRI 23 Mersey Dee Alliance PDF 110 KB View as HTML (24) 13 KB
- WRI 24 Mid Wales Transport Partnership PDF 259 KB
- WRI 25 Chester Shrewsbury Rail Partnership PDF 558 KB
- WRI 26 Rail North and Transport for the North PDF 239 KB View as HTML (27) 36 KB
- WRI 27 Pembrokeshire Rail Travellers’ Association PDF 230 KB
- WRI 28 Department for Transport PDF 347 KB
- WRI 29 Welsh Local Government Association PDF 68 KB View as HTML (30) 24 KB
- WRI 30 Arriva Trains Wales PDF 204 KB
- WRI 31 Rail Delivery Group PDF 465 KB
- WRI 32 South Wales Chamber of Commerce PDF 893 KB
- WRI 33 Transport Scotland PDF 333 KB View as HTML (34) 64 KB
- WRI 34 Office of Rail and Road PDF 321 KB
- WRI 35 Network Rail PDF 572 KB
- WRI 36 Tata Steel PDF 245 KB View as HTML (37) 50 KB
Purpose of the consultation
The Enterprise and Business Committee carried out an inquiry into whether Wales’ railway infrastructure meets the needs of passengers and businesses as demand increases. Between November 2015 and January 2016 the Committee held a public consultation to gather evidence.
Background
Powers and devolution
Unlike in Scotland, planning and delivery of rail infrastructure in Wales is not devolved. While Welsh Government has powers to fund infrastructure investment, primary responsibility for funding Network Rail, and the development of the Welsh network, rests with the UK Government. However, the UK Government’s St David’s Day Command Paper said there was “no consensus” on devolution of infrastructure powers so that there are currently no plans to devolve these powers.
Preparations for rail
control period 6 and beyond
Rail industry priorities and funding are set in five year “Control Periods”. Preparations are led by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR, formerly the Office of Rail Regulation) through the period review process, which reviews Network Rail’s outputs and funding for each control period.
Infrastructure proposals are initially developed by Network Rail, which sets out “choices for funders” working with the rail industry and funders such as the Welsh Government. This work feeds into the preparation of an Initial Industry Plan by the rail industry and ultimately to publication of the Secretary of State for Transport’s High Level Output Specification (HLOS) and Statement of Funds Available (SOFA). Preparations for Control Period 6 (2019-2024) are underway.
This Committee sought views from the public on issues relevant to the rail infrastructure in Wales in order to inform decisions on Welsh rail infrastructure in Control Period 6 and beyond.
Terms of Reference
and Key Issues
The scope of the
inquiry covered:
- The operational effectiveness of current rail infrastructure for passengers and freight within Wales and priorities for the development of Welsh infrastructure, particularly in Control Period 6 (2019-24) and beyond;
- The relationship between the Welsh and English rail networks in terms of planning, management, maintenance/renewal and enhancement, and how these should be co-ordinated to benefit passenger and freight users on both sides of the border;
- The effectiveness of the current approach to planning rail infrastructure in Wales, as well as delivery of maintenance/renewal and enhancement, and whether the current approach achieves the best outcomes for passengers and freight users in Wales.
The public were asked
for their views on:
- High level priorities for the development of rail infrastructure to provide the capacity and connectivity necessary to support the social and economic well-being of Wales;
- How far Welsh Government’s rail infrastructure priorities, including those in the National Transport Finance Plan, and the Ministerial Task Force on North Wales Transport report meet the needs of Wales;
- How the development and exploitation of rail infrastructure in England affects Wales, and vice versa;
- The impact on Wales of key planned developments in England including High Speed Rail, electrification, Northern Power House / Transport for the North, and wider devolution of responsibility for rail within England;
- How Welsh Government can best engage with and influence infrastructure developments in England and the development of passenger and freight services using the network;
- Whether the periodic review process meets the needs of Wales and takes account of the needs of Welsh passenger and freight users, and how this should be developed;
- The effectiveness of the Network Rail Wales Route and whether the approach to delivery of network management, maintenance, renewal and enhancement functions are effective in delivering value for money, capacity, frequency, speed, reliability and handling disruption for passengers and freight users in Wales;
- The fact that funding for Welsh rail infrastructure is not devolved. The advantages, disadvantages, opportunities and risks potentially associated with devolution.
Disclosure of
Information
You can find further details about how we use your information at http://www.assembly.wales/InquiryPrivacy. Please ensure that you have considered these details carefully before submitting information to the Committee.
Contact details
Should you wish to speak to someone regarding this consultation, please use the below contact details:
Enterprise and Business Committee - Fourth Assembly
Welsh Parliament
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff
CF99 1SN
Email: Contact@senedd.wales
Telephone: 0300 200 6565