The Great Western Partnership (GWP) is calling for a number of incremental improvements to the passenger rail services between south Wales, south west England and London. Provision by 2020 of a Reading to Heathrow electrified spur off the Great Western Main Line (GWML) is key: the current lack of direct rail connection from the west of the UK to its busiest airport curtails economic development.
The GWP was established to campaign for a High Speed Rail service from south Wales to London. Electrification of the GWML was seen as a first step in the process. The GWP welcomed the Government’s decision on electrification of the line from London to Cardiff, and continues to support the case for extension to Swansea.
Cardiff Council Leader Cllr Rodney Berman said: “Electrification to London Paddington is good news, but by itself is not enough to give the boost to economic growth that South Wales and the south west of England need. There’s a strong business case for fast and easy access to the UK’s major airport, Heathrow to ensure that there is a direct link between the destinations big business travel to and from and this area.
“Having a direct link to Heathrow, alongside the services offered by our own airport can only serve to enhance the opportunities we can offer to businesses and travellers to Wales and the South West.
The GWP believes that there is a strong business case, in the short term, for pursuing a series of incremental upgrades to the GWML, and ultimately for the development of HSR to serve the West of England and Wales.
The full GWP position statement is reproduced below.
Position Statement
At its meeting of 1 April 2011, the Great Western Partnership took stock of the situation in the light of the Secretary of State for Transport’s announcement on 1 March 2011 that electrification of the GWML would take place as far as Cardiff by 2017, with a possible extension to Swansea kept under review.
The Great Western Partnership was established to campaign for a High Speed Rail service from South Wales to London. Electrification of the GWML was seen as a first step in the process.
GWP welcomed the recent announcement of the Secretary of State as an important step towards delivering an efficient and environmentally-friendly inter-city rail system, but is keen to promote further incremental improvements that will cumulatively serve to enhance connectivity between London, the south-west of England and South Wales.
GWP is keen to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum during the electrification phase, that the new trains are designed with passenger comfort in mind, and that all further work on the GWML future-proofs the infrastructure with a view to providing ever shorter journey times.
Connectivity between Reading Rail Station and London Heathrow Airport will, under existing plans, remain a key concern for south Wales and south west England. The lack of direct rail connection from the west of the UK to the busiest airport curtails economic development, and the GWP will actively campaign for provision by 2020 of a Reading to Heathrow electrified spur off the GWML.
Consideration should be given to extending a four track railway from Wootton Bassett to Didcot Parkway. This would avoid the Swindon-Didcot Parkway section becoming a bottleneck at the heart of the GWML and enhance capacity for an intensive inter-city operation featuring very limited stop express services. Four-tracking would allow for additional resilience in the case of engineering works/breakdown.
The Secretary of State for Transport also announced that he would welcome a business case on electrification of some of the south Wales Valley lines. The GWP fully supports the enhancement of commuter routes such as the Valley lines because of their economic and environmental contribution, and will offer its full support to SEWEF and SEWTA in taking this project forward across a wider range of routes that those mentioned by the Secretary of State.
South west England’s aspiration is for electrification of the suburban network around Bristol to be completed. As with the south Wales Valley lines proposal, the economic and environmental contribution of such a service are such that the GWP is keen to support the West of England Partnership in its campaign.
The Secretary of State for Transport announced that he would, in conjunction with the Welsh Government, keep under active review the business case for future electrification of the GWML between Cardiff and Swansea in the light of developing future service patterns. The GWP remains convinced that there is a strong business case to extend the electrification of the GWML to Swansea, especially in the light of upgrading the key suburban lines in South East Wales. The GWP will continue to contribute to this review, in particular in establishing a clear picture of the respective benefit-cost ratio of the options under consideration.
GWP also seeks to be regularly updated on progress with particular reference to aspects of the proposal which impinge on electrification of the GWML and/or which may affect the case for HSR.
