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Topic: Ebbw Vale Line Re - Opening Delayed (Read 3597 times)
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Lee
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The Welsh Assembly Government was accused of letting down one of Wales’s poorest areas last night as it emerged there will be further delays in reopening a vital rail link (link below.) http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/07/dismay_at_new_delay_in_reopeni.html#moreIt has now emerged that trains to Cardiff will not be running before December at the earliest , and a question mark has been raised about whether the line to Newport will be reopened at all. Here is an interesting "compare and contrast" : What the Assembly Government said in July 2006: “When the resignalling and major refurbishment of Newport Station by Network Rail is complete – currently planned for 2009 – it will be possible to run a hourly service from Ebbw Vale to Newport. Further works will be required to increase the service frequency on this line from one hourly to half hourly at an estimated cost of between £12m and £15m at some point in the future. But that work is not essential to enable a service to be run into Newport in 2009.” What the Assembly Government says in July 2007: “At the moment there are no firm plans to introduce a service into Newport as this is a matter for the South East Wales Transport Alliance to consider and prioritise accordingly in its Regional Transport Plan.” |
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paulsouthwales
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The delay is bound to disappoint local residents who have not had a rail service since 1962!
It has always surprised me why the service was Ebbw Vale to Cardiff rather than Ebbw Vale to Newport initally!
Yes, travel to Cardiff from the Valleys is a big business, but Ebbw Vale is more a 'Gwent Valley' in terms of its location rather than a 'Cardiff Valley', and in terms of longer distance travel, I would have thought that Ebbw Vale - Newport connecting either to Cardiff or Swansea (west) or Bristol, Birmingham and beyond (east) would be more practical.
Anyone wanting to travel east will literally have to travel west in Cardiff first and then double back, adding in my estimations a good 60 - 90 minutes to a journey.
Lets hope 'Phase 2' (connection to Abertillery and Newport) is still part of the medium term plan.
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Lee
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« Last Edit: December 14, 2007, 12:13:38 PM by Lee »
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Lee
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Fresh talks have been held over delays to the Ebbw Vale to Newport rail link (link below.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/7145442.stmAfter Friday's meeting between Welsh Assembly Government officials , contractors , Network Rail and the council , Blaenau Gwent's chief executive said everything was being done to speed up the opening process. "Following the handover of the track a project team led by Network Rail will meet to identify any remaining works that need to be completed," he said. "Network Rail will then work with the contractors to rectify any outstanding issues." When that work is completed , operators Arriva Trains Wales will be able to train drivers on the track , and finally settle time-table arrangements for the service. |
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Lee
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The Ebbw Vale rail link has been given the green light to start after engineering problems led to the official opening being postponed (link below.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/7149301.stmBut passengers have still not been told when they can use the £30m line. Train drivers will first be given training to get used to the new link. A final inspection was held over the weekend after final engineering issues were resolved. Blaenau Gwent Council has now handed over the track to Network Rail. It is thought that no passenger trains will run for at least two weeks. |
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Lee
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The rail service between Ebbw Vale and Cardiff, which was supposed to begin before Christmas, will start running on Wednesday (link below.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/7226295.stm Blaenau Gwent Council said the first train from Ebbw Vale would leave at 0640 GMT, with the first service from Cardiff departing at 0635 GMT. Trains will run once every hour in both directions through the day. Quotes : Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Mr German welcomed the announcement, but said there was still a lack of information.
"I mean to get the first train - but the lack of information continues, as the National Rail or Arriva Trains websites are not displaying timetable information at the moment," he said.
Conservative Andrew Davies said the delay had caused "considerable inconvenience" to public transport users and was a "disappointment" to local residents.
"I hope that December's false start will not have any lasting impact on commuter numbers when the service commences on Wednesday," he said.
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Lee
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A protest about how long it will take to set up a working rail link between Rogerstone and Newport is planned (link below.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/7239470.stmPoliticians and city leaders are angry the £30m train link between Ebbw Vale and Cardiff calls at Rogerstone but not at Newport Central. Newport West MP Paul Flynn and AM Rosemary Butler want the passenger services to start as soon as possible. But the assembly government said the line needed a signalling upgrade which was not possible until 2009. The link goes through Rogerstone but passengers heading for Newport have to transfer to a shuttle bus. On Tuesday, Ms Butler, Mr Flynn and three Newport councillors will go to Rogerstone station where they plan to hold up enlarged images of return tickets from Rogerstone to Newport with the valid date left blank.They say it is a protest about the time it is going to take to carry out engineering work on the line between the two stations. I wonder where they got that idea from.... |
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Lee
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A bus link helping commuters use the new £30m railway line from Ebbw Vale to Cardiff has been abandoned (link below.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/7427491.stmThe Welsh Assembly Government said a shortage of passengers meant it ended the service from Rogerstone to Newport. But one, Val Ashdown, from Ebbw Vale, said it meant she would go back to using her car to get to work. Labour AM Rosemary Butler said the bus could not go on being subsidised, but she will press for a quicker start to a rail link from Rogerstone to Newport. Mrs Ashdown, 60, had been using the train and bus link for six weeks to reach work at the defence company EADS on the Celtic Springs business park. But when she boarded the bus to go home on Saturday she was told the service would end after this weekend. The journey took 50 minutes and at £2.95 a day, using monthly and weekly train ticket offers, meant it was cheaper than using her car, which uses £35 a week in petrol to make the same journey. An assembly government spokeswoman said it had agreed to help fund the bus link between Rogerstone and Newport as an interim measure until a rail link into the city opens in 2010-11. She said it agreed to provide a subsidy of £230,000 for 2008-09 to Newport Council on condition that passenger numbers were monitored to ensure it provided value for money. There are a number of frequent privately-operated bus services through Rogerstone, the spokeswoman said. |
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