Transport User Voice – New board to represent passengers in Wales

25 October 2017

Wales Route Supervisory Board

Transport Focus has joined forces with Network Rail, Arriva Trains Wales and the Welsh Government to ensure there is one voice for passengers in Wales and the Borders.

The new board will bring together Network Rail, which owns, operates and develops Britain’s railway, and train operators to ensure services deliver what passengers want. The board will work together to drive improvements and hold the rail industry to account.

The board’s independent chair is Margaret Llewellyn OBE, who has a broad range of business experience, including as a non-executive director of Cardiff Airport. The Board first met in September and will now meet monthly, which is particularly crucial during the twelve months ahead of the new train service.

Transport Focus will work to ensure the voice of the passenger in Wales and the Borders is at the heart of every action of the board. Passengers in Wales tell us their top priorities for improvement are more seats and more space to deal with overcrowding, a more punctual and reliable service and new trains. We will use our research to help Network Rail and train companies stay focused on delivering what rail passengers really want.

Bus summit workshops

Transport Focus is making sure what passengers tell us is at the centre of a new Welsh Government plan to transform bus services.

Following the announcement of a new strategy for bus services in Wales the industry came together for a summit to consider priorities for investment and support. This work is now being built on with a series of workshops across Wales. Transport Focus attended the first workshop held in Aberystwyth. We will also take part in a further workshop in November, in Llandudno Junction.

The workshops will consider key issues in more detail, including information, fares and ticketing, transport integration, technology, congestion, reliability and accessibility. Transport Focus will share our knowledge of passengers’ aspirations, plus results from our Bus Passenger Survey, which is currently running across Britain, including Wales.

The plan for buses in Wales will also benefit from new information from two public consultations on concessionary fares. The first is looking for views on free bus travel for older people, disabled people and injured service veterans in Wales. This was announced on 10 October and will run until 12 January 2018. Further details are on the Welsh Government website. The second consultation is looking for views on discounted bus travel for younger people, and closes on 4 January 2018. Details are available on the Welsh Government website here.

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