Transport User Voice – December 2016 – What’s happening in Wales?

29 November 2016

Wales and Borders rail franchise

Four bidders who have now been confirmed for the franchise – Arriva, Abellio, Keolis/Amey and MTR. We are currently talking to the participants about what passengers want for the future rail and metro services in Wales. We’ve been sharing evidence from our National Rail Passenger Survey and other passenger research to inform bidders’ proposals.

Improving bus services in Wales

Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure in Wales, Ken Skates AM, has announced his five-point plan for improving bus services in Wales:

• offering bus companies dedicated professional assistance for business and finance and call on local authorities to make efforts to protect bus service funding
• working with local authorities to identify potentially vulnerable bus services and put a local strategy in place to respond to planned withdrawal of services considered vital to the community
• meeting local authorities and municipal bus companies in Cardiff and Newport and Confederation of Passenger Transport to understand how sustainable networks can operate whilst maintaining a social benefit
• funding two new bus co-ordinator posts to bring together strands of policy and investment to develop the quality partnerships model
• holding a bus summit in early 2017 with local authorities, operators and passenger representative groups, to consider longer term delivery of financially viable and sustainable bus services.

Transport Focus are providing input from our research speaking to bus passengers as the plan develops. We will also provide input to the bus summit and continue talking with Welsh Government as plans continue into the future.

Keeping Wales’s transport safe – policing plans

Regional British Transport Police (BTP) meetings are underway to determine priorities for policing on the railway for the next year. Transport Focus attended the Wales meeting to ensure passengers’ priorities were at the heart of the plans.

We highlighted our research on passengers’ priorities for personal security to BTP and discussed measures for tackling antisocial behaviour and the visibility of staff.

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