Welsh Infrastructure Alliance

REPORT BY THE WELSH INFRASDTRUCTURE ALLIANCE (WIA)

PRIORITIES FOR TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE IN WALES

Introduction

This short report from the Wales Infrastructure Alliance (WIA) is a focussed response to the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales’ (NICW) Call for Evidence relating to Transport issues, as set out in their 1st Annual Report “The Future Prosperity and Well-Being of Wales and the role of Infrastructure” published in November 2019. It sets out some general areas for consideration as well as specific responses to Issues 6 to 10 (inclusive) and should be read in conjunction with the WIA’s previous report to the NICW in Autumn 2019.

The Welsh Infrastructure Alliance

The Welsh Infrastructure Alliance draws together like-minded organisations representing over 600 member companies and over 10,000 individual members from across the infrastructure sector. The Alliance sees itself as a source of advice and potential solutions to enable the deliver “world class” infrastructure in Wales to drive our future wellbeing as a nation.

Overview

Wales needs a world class, sustainable, integrated and resilient transport network that delivers greater prosperity, keeps Wales connected and provides genuine choices. It must support the well-being of our future generations as well as addressing climate change and the challenge of decarbonising Wales by 2040.

The current Climate Change Emergency should not be seen as a reason to not invest in transport infrastructure. It is an opportunity to fundamentally change our infrastructure and prepare ourselves for a world with net zero carbon vehicles across all modes of transport.

Insufficient investment in new and existing transport infrastructure, combined with a lack of positive decision-making for major interventions, is the biggest threat to undermining these aspirations and widen the gap between Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom. The challenges we face from the Climate Change Emergency are demanding but not so insurmountable that we should not invest in infrastructure.

The future role of Transport for Wales (TfW), particularly in respect of the delivery of infrastructure improvements across all modes, needs to be clearly defined and a clear forward programme of investment published to give certainty and confidence to the public and potential investors. TfW needs to be given sufficient budgets to deliver the programme of improvements needed across all modes.

Widespread investment in BIM and digital asset management by the Welsh Government and other public authorities will lead to efficiencies in the operational management of assets and cost savings to owners. The Welsh Government needs

Welsh Infrastructure Alliance to adopt the technological advances taken forward by other UK Governments and share best practice. There is potential to take the lead in developing these further due the smaller size and reduced complexity of assets in Wales.

The adoption of the rail network in Wales provides both challenges and opportunities for Transport for Wales as the new owner. Future investment in infrastructure needs to focus on increased capacity on the Valleys Lines and improved transport hubs.

Wales’ strategic road and rail network appeared to cope with the recent flooding events. However, it is vulnerable and it is unclear how resilient some parts of the network really are to climate change. All forms of Welsh infrastructure are critical to our daily life and recently only just managed to deal with the heavy winter storms. Infrastructure during the 2013/2014 floods was at the point of being disrupted severely. With sea level rise, more intense rainfall and stronger winds due to climate change, the road and railway network will be disrupted for ever increasing periods. For example, the loss of Newgale shingle bank and the severance of the trunk road showed this vulnerability and there will undoubtedly be major disruption to the coastal rail network, in particularly on the firmer Cambrian coast.

It remains to be seen how the recent outbreak of Coronavirus will impact on our infrastructure needs and general travel patterns across society, but they will change.

Funding of Infrastructure Interventions

Transport infrastructure investment in Wales falls well short of what is needed. Budgetary challenges over the last decade are well known but this shouldn’t prevent investment, particularly as it is shown to provide positive economic and social benefits. The Welsh Government needs to be encouraged to invest in alternative and more innovative forms of investment – both public and private sector – to bring forward critical infrastructure improvements. These could include more extensive use of Mutual Investment Model (MIM) financing currently proposed for the final sections of the A465 Heads of the Valleys dualling but also the increased use of Government borrowing, increased rail access charges and

Increased use of government borrowing, innovative funding solutions

With the growth of non-fossil fuel powered vehicles, increased prosperity, and the demand for greater social mobility, it is inevitable the propensity for people to travel in personalised vehicles will increase, even if vehicle ownership doesn’t. Serious consideration needs to be given to increased use of road pricing or taxation as a means to suppress demand and raise funds for infrastructure investment across all modes of transport. In any event we can no longer put off important investment decisions in our strategic road and rail network.

The NICW should establish a working group to explore alternative and innovative forms of funding linked to the Welsh Government’s Infrastructure Investment Plans.

Welsh Infrastructure Alliance

Issue 6 – Strategic Connectivity: Road and Rail – Improve Links

The lack of strategic road and rail capacity and resilience in the south-east and north-east of Wales has long been known by the Welsh Government and there have been proposals to address these problems since the inception of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999. More committed investment and certainty in delivering major transport infrastructure is essential to improving East-West links in both North and South Wales as well as North and South links to central Wales.

Investment in longer distance bus/coach transport in these corridors linked to local bus networks at interchanges with M4 Motorway and A55, including more park and ride facilities, will reduce travel distances and provide alternatives to private car users.

Solutions to address congestion on the M4 Motorway corridor in south-east Wales have been under consideration for nearly 30 years. Alternatives to the construction of a new motorway around the south of Newport have been considered and discarded on several occasions, including as part of the Public Inquiry in 2018 for a new Motorway. The Welsh Government’s decision to not proceed with this new Motorway was understandable at the time but since then no real alternative have been announced. The proposed South East Wales Metro will provide some positive benefits but will not adequately address the current congestion problems. Investment in a SMART motorway or ‘Expressway’ could relieve pressure in the mid- term and should be investigated although this should be treated with caution until the findings of the Highways England review of SMART motorways has been published. At this time the only long-term solution remains some form of new road infrastructure and the case for infrastructure investment in improving the M4 Motorway in south- east Wales, including how to address concerns raised by the Climate Change Emergency, needs to be revisited urgently. This should include options for alternative and innovative funding mechanisms, including the use of MIM financing.

The A55 across North Wales continues to suffer from a lack of investment with long- delayed decisions at Deeside, the Third Menai Crossing and Junctions 15/16 resulting in increased congestion and delays, particularly for tourist and business travellers to north-west Wales. The development of the A55 to ‘Expressway’ standards, with robust alternative diversion routes to provide greater network resilience needs to be investigated further. The intervention to improve the A55/A494/A548 in Flinthshire should be given priority funding due to its key interaction with the bordering English regions which are also receiving investment.

Electrification of the mainlines across and north and south Wales (west of Cardiff) will bring journey reliability and time reduction benefits as well as carbon reductions and air quality improvements. The case for demonstrating improvement in connectivity along these corridors is however not proven but this should not detract from making these investments for other sustainability reasons.

The delivery of Metros in south-east, south-west and north Wales will all bring significant benefits to their regional and local economies. However, the Welsh Government needs to demonstrate the benefits these will being and provide more

Welsh Infrastructure Alliance certainty on the measures that will be implemented. This will allow regional and local authorities, as well as the private sector, to plan and invest thereby maximising the benefits of this infrastructure investment.

It is evident from investment in the strategic and local road network in areas such as the Heads of the Valleys, Newtown and Caernarfon can not only stimulate local economic growth but improve air quality, reduce carbon emissions and bring benefits to local communities through improved accessibility and employment opportunities. The Welsh Government should continue its investment in areas such as Merthyr and Deeside to increase these benefits to other local economic centres and communities.

There is potential to improve air connectivity from Cardiff International Airport (CIA) to other major UK and European cities, particularly the hubs of London (Heathrow), Paris and Amsterdam, through increased service provision. However, there is stiff competition from other UK airports which are larger and better-placed to serve many parts of Wales. Service increases could provide alternatives to the current road and rail options to other UK airports for passengers travelling to Europe and longer distance destinations. To achieve this greater investment is required in surface access, including a direct link to the M4 Motorway and faster, more frequent trains and buses to the cities and towns in south Wales. A direct rail link to the CIA from Cardiff Central should be seen as an essential component of the South East Wales Metro. The Welsh Government needs a clear strategy for future investment in CIA, including how it would use Air Passenger Duty (APD) should it be devolved to the Welsh Government. The proposed direct rail link to Heathrow could reduce road congestion on the M4 in south-east Wales and there is potential to link CIA to Heathrow by rail. There are no realistic alternative options in north-east Wales. Any such investment needs to consider the long-term viability and resilience of air travel following the impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Welsh ports primarily serve the Irish market but there is potential to improve connectivity from our ports to the rest of the world, particularly for freight to/from France and Spain. The Roll-on Roll-off terminals have a lot of spare capacity in terms of hours usage per day and there is generally a reactive approach to new tenant offerings. The Welsh Government needs to support Welsh ports in securing major new tenants, particularly those with rail focussed operations and there is significant capcity in the cruise market. Investment is required to properly link them to the strategic rail and road networks, in particular, the A55, A40 and M4 will improve connectivity to Holyhead, Pembroke and Newport respectively. At Holyhead improved road access connecting the Ferry terminals with the A55 should be a priority investment. The Welsh Government should develop a clear policy for investment in Wales’ ports now it has attained devolved powers.

Issue 7 – North-South Connectivity: Road and Rail – Improve Links

The WIA separate paper on Digital Infrastructure addresses the benefits of greater investment in the Digital sector by the Welsh Government. Improving Digital Connectivity along major transport routes will bring significant benefits, such as increased opportunities for the expansion of connected vehicle technology and reducing ‘not spot’ broadband areas in rural areas.

Welsh Infrastructure Alliance

We are supportive of the Welsh Government plans to introduce ‘2+1’ sections of road along major north-south trunk road routes, which will improve journey times and safety. This approach should be extended to other strategic trunk and local road routes across Wales as it is a cost-effective alternative to dualling existing single carriageway roads.

The Welsh Government should provide targeted public sector investment in existing and new private sector operations to improve traveller facilities and stimulate local economic growth. Relying on the private sector is not resilient and could result in imbalance between locations disadvantaging travellers on these routes.

The Welsh Government needs to provide a clear policy on the use of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) and Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging that provides guidance to public authorities and encourages the right investment from the private sector.

ULEVs are broadly encouraged across the UK in order to tackle the impact of the transport sector on carbon emissions. ULEVs include hybrid vehicles as well as purely battery electric vehicles. The ULEV options currently mainly extend to cars but technology is evolving for freight vehicles, buses and taxis. The ever-changing nature of innovation and technology in ULEVs means that any strategy in Wales should be regular reviewed and updated, say every three years as a maximum. At this point in early 2020 there are approximately 150,000 ULEVs and 14,000 publicly accessible charging points across the UK.

The Department for Transport in England has pledged significant funds for the expansion of ULEVs and in their ‘Road to Zero’ strategy has set out policies to support the development of a world class electric vehicle infrastructure network in the UK. In February 2020 the UK government announced that the sale of petrol, diesel or hybrid vehicles will be banned in the UK by 2035. The Welsh Government needs to develop a parallel policy specific to the needs of Wales.

An electric vehicle charging strategy needs to co-ordinate the growth in electric vehicles with associated charging infrastructure. The charging network will need to provide a variety of charge points depending on location and likely usage. To encourage a switch to electric vehicles, charging infrastructure will need to be provided in residential locations as well as at destinations such as workplaces and shopping centres. Charging infrastructure must also be considered for freight vehicles, buses and taxis. An initial expansion of charging points should concentrate on urban centres and destinations where demand will be highest, although ultimately it will be necessary to provide a suitable charging network throughout the country.

The case for greater investment in rail infrastructure is complex due to the number of stakeholders and delivery organisations. The WIA is generally supportive of investment in rail infrastructure but more visibility is needed on the proposals and benefits to comment in detail. New Rail Rolling Stock on north-south rail routes would improve the traveller experience and should focus on improved facilities that would make them more attractive for the longer distance traveller (e.g. power

Welsh Infrastructure Alliance sockets, buffet facilities, WiFi, tables etc.). However, it is travel time that is the key factor for improving the customer experience and investment in line speed improvements should be the priority.

Whilst fewer travellers use east-west routes in mid Wales, improvement to the A483 and A458 would contribute to improvements in some north-south journeys. In the recent Budget announcement Highways England announced future investment in the A483 Pant to Llanymynech scheme. The Welsh Government should consider similar investment decisions for schemes such as this. Similarly, improvements in the Heart of Wales and Cambrian lines would provide similar benefits for some travellers.

Expansion of the north-south air service to provide increased frequency and cover south-west and north-east Wales would provide alternatives to road and rail travel, particularly for business travellers.

Issue 8 – Infrastructure for Net Zero by 2040

We need to see the Wales Transport Strategy published for a comprehensive view of Wales’ readiness for Net Zero by 2040. It is unlikely that Wales is better prepared than the rest of the UK and the focus should be more collaboration with other UK Governments to better understand how Wales should implement policies and strategies to address the Net Zero challenge.

Greater investment in research for alternatives such as Hydrogen vehicles, particularly HGVs, which could provide a more cost-effective and reliable alternative to more traditional electric vehicles.

Wales should encourage more behavioural change through policies that use techniques such as ‘Nudge Theory’ to make better use of existing infrastructure and improve air quality, reduce carbon emissions and enhance road safety.

Increased investment in Active Travel should be targeted in urban areas where reducing emissions and improving air quality are more important. Major infrastructure projects should set clear targets for the inclusion of Active Travel Measures and the Welsh Government should use its wider legislative powers to support their implementation.

The role of Broadband has an important role in reducing the need to travel and thereby reducing emissions from road transport but this needs to be part of a comprehensive transport policy which takes cognisance of the wider societal and cultural needs of people in Wales. The WIA paper on Digital Infrastructure address this in more detail.

Wales significantly lags behind England with the adoption of electric buses, most probably due to a lack of funding for the additional capital costs for vehicles and depots. To date funding has not been made available through any specific Welsh Government initiatives or grants. However, there are a number of fleets operating in large towns which would be suitable. The suitability of Electric Vehicles for longer interurban routes is a challenge and it is likely that at least in the short to medium

Welsh Infrastructure Alliance terms other technical solutions will be needed, such as geo-fenced hybrids or hydrogen.

Issue 9 – Transport in Rural Wales: How to Improve

The options to improve transport in rural areas is limited but there does need to be better integration between rail, bus and community transport. The extended use (and increased funding) of Community Transport solutions is key and the voluntary/3rd Sector is key to the successful provision of services. Local authorities need to be given more support by Welsh Government in developing these services.

Additional investment in the Traws Cymru network will improve longer distance travel but as passenger numbers tend to be lower than for more urban areas then the case of investment is weak. Similarly, the case for investment in the Heart of Wales and Cambrian lines is difficult to justify for similar reasons. Reliance on the private car will remain the primary transport option for many people living in rural parts of Wales so continued investment in maintaining and enhancing the network must be a priority for the Welsh Government.

Issue 10 – Reducing the Need to Travel

The key policy areas health and education offer the best opportunities to reduce society’s need to travel, particularly in urban areas. The increased provision of local facilities would encourage more use of public transport and provide greater opportunities for people to walk and cycle to reach them. It is however recognised that severe budgetary constraints in both areas may prevent these aims being achieved.

The Welsh Government should develop stronger policies and incentives to encourage employers to implement flexible and home working practices as well as developing incentivised Active Travel Plans rewarding people who use them. Employer incentives could range from being given reduced business rates to subsidised public transport for their staff.

Next Steps

The WIA and its members would welcome the opportunity to discuss the above report and recommendations in more detail, particularly exploring ways to bring best practice from around the UK to improve infrastructure delivery and new, alternative and innovative forms of finance.

Signed:

Russell Bennett Keith Jones

CIHT Cymru Wales ICE Wales Cymru