Plaid Cymru is today announcing that it will consider putting the management of Welsh railways in the hands of a ‘not for profit’ company when the current franchise contract with Arriva Trains Wales ends in 2018.
Most of the preparation work for the refranchising will be undertaken during the next Assembly term and this would provide sufficient planning time to develop a delivery model that is better suited to the needs of the people in Wales.
The proposal is one of the ideas being considered for the party’s May 2011 Assembly election manifesto.
Plaid’s leader Ieuan Wyn Jones will say today that in creating a not-for-profit organisation to run Welsh railways, significantly more money could be made available to invest in services. Mr Jones said that this money could be invested directly to create more frequent services in the South Wales valleys, more frequent journeys to West Wales and on the Cambrian line, as well as additional services between North and South. It would also enable investment in new rolling stock to help keep pace with growing demand.
In 2003 a 15 year franchise for running railway services in Wales was awarded to Arriva Trains Wales. Welsh Ministers and the UK Department for Transport are co-signatories on the franchise which is worth around £165 million a year to Arriva Trains Wales.
Arriva Trains Wales is currently making a healthy profit from this agreement. Despite this, most demand for additional rail services are met directly by Welsh Assembly Government funds and are not funded by Arriva Trains Wales which as its priority is to service its shareholders.
Mr Jones said that his party would consider ensuring the transfer of control over the franchise to Welsh Ministers in order to put the franchise in the hands of a ‘not-for-profit’ company. This would allow the new company to reinvest its profits in developing better and more train services for people, instead of the current model where the majority of profits are returned to Arriva Trains Wales’ shareholders. This could release extra money to invest in an improved All-Wales Rail Service which could amount to between £100m – £120m over a decade. Arriva Trains Wales’ staff would be transferred to work for the new company under normal TUPE arrangements.
Such a plan would bring about numerous benefits:
• Significant savings – releasing a fund for possible reinvestment projects such as re-opening lines across Wales, improving journey times or purchasing additional rolling stock.
• The development of an All-Wales transport network – integrating ticketing and timetables across public transport in Wales.
The Plaid Cymru Leader said that at a time of a shrinking Welsh budget, his party would be willing to take radical steps to ensure that public funds are used in the most beneficial way as possible as Plaid’s efforts to transform the Welsh economy and Welsh communities continue.
Ieuan Wyn Jones AM said:
“At a time of shrinking budgets, we’re focused on getting the best possible value for money out of every penny of public funds. It therefore also makes perfect sense that we consider all options for our transport services and how to reinvest public money in building our vision of a modern, efficient Welsh transport system.
“In Wales we have an excellent example of how a ‘not-for-profit’ company can operate in Glas Cymru. This model could have great potential for the delivery of rail services.
“Our train services could be run by a company with a similar not-for profit model and its board could include representation from the Welsh government as well as expertise from the fields of integrated transport, customer service, accessibility, rail projects and finance.”
“Plaid Cymru will also be calling on the UK Government to decentralise Network Rail and to create a Welsh Region so that the Welsh Ministers can prioritise where and when it invests its funding in new projects. This model already works well in Scotland, and now is the time for Network Rail to be much more accountable to the people of Wales for delivering real and sustained investment in our rail network, including making long awaited accessibility improvements at stations”.
Mr Jones added:
“In government, Plaid Cymru has gone to great lengths to ensure that we not only improve current rail services where we can, but that we reopen previously closed railway lines. But we recognise that we need to ensure that easily accessible rail services are available to far more people in the near future.
Plaid’s Director of Policy, Nerys Evans AM said:
“Improving infrastructure, including rail, is crucial to the development of the Welsh economy – to create the successful, prosperous and green nation that we know Wales can be.
“This proposal could be a further step toward creating a national transport system for Wales. It could integrate all modes of public transport under one brand and one ticketing scheme similar to the transport for London model, where you can use a single card to access rail, bus and underground services.
“In the challenging times ahead, we believe it’s vital that we look to look to Wales for ambitious solutions to create the successful nation that we all want to see.”
