Swansea Bay and West Wales Metro consultation Welsh Government and Transport for Wales are working in partnership with Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Metro aims Pembrokeshire and Swansea Councils to develop plans for the The aim of the Metro approach across Wales is to provide an integrated public transport network. This Swansea Bay and West Wales Metro. Metro is about making it would be developed using a variety of modes such as heavy rail, tram-train, light rail and bus, all of easier to travel, whether you’re travelling by train, bus, bike or on which would be accessible by walking and cycling. The area the Swansea Bay and West Wales Metro foot, to get to work or school, hospital appointments or for leisure will cover can be seen in Figure 2 and includes the counties of Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, purposes, all through using public transport. Pembrokeshire and Swansea. PEMBROKESHIRE KEY CEREDIGION We’d like to invite you to have RAILWAY LINE your say on plans STATIONS Fishguard Llandovery Through this consultation we’d like to let you know about the plans for improving rail services within the Swansea Bay and West Wales area. These include increased frequency of long- POWYS distance services, more local services from West Wales to Carmarthen Carmarthen and Swansea, development of Swansea Bay Whitland services and new stations and improvements to existing stations. Haverfordwest We are now at Welsh Transport Appraisal Guidance (WelTAG) stage 1 and we’re asking for your views on the options we have Milford Haven Neath put forward, with a focus on those which have been short-listed to NEATH PORT TALBOT Llanelli be looked at in more detail at the next stage. Pembroke Dock Swansea Port Talbot Parkway CARMARTHENSHIRE Figure 2: Study Area WelTAG WelTAG WelTAG WelTAG WelTAG SWANSEA STAGE 1: STAGE 2: STAGE 3: STAGE 4: STAGE 5: Outline Case Outline Full Implementation Post Business Case Business Case Implementation Figure 1: WelTAG stages London - Swansea/Carmarthen Cardiff - Swansea Manchester - Carmarthen/Milford Haven Swansea - Shrewsbury Swansea - Pembroke Dock Swansea - Fishguard 1 tph 0.5 tph < 0.5 tph Existing Rail services: 1 Option number Llandovery Figure 3: Summary of existing services Fishguard Harbour Clarbeston Road Milford Haven Haverfordwest Whitland Carmarthen Llanelli Swansea Neath Bridgend Cardiff Newport Pembroke Dock Bristol Parkway Port Talbot Parkway or Temple Meads The area is currently served by the following rail routes: ROUTE SERVICE FREQUENCY Issues with existing public transport Manchester - Milford Haven Hourly to Swansea/Carmarthen, Two-hourly to Milford Haven Previous work has identified the need for service improvements to address Swansea - Pembroke Dock Two-hourly service the following key issues: Cardiff/Swansea - Fishguard Seven trains/ day (every two -three hours) • Lack of competitive/long journey times to South West Wales compared to using a car Swansea - Shrewsbury Four trains/day (+1 to/from Llandovery) (every four hours) (Heart of Wales Line) • Lack of through services to South West Wales • Low frequency of direct trains to Swansea London Paddington - Swansea Hourly (off-peak), 30 minute (peak hours), • Low service frequency on West Wales branches (two-hourly) London Paddington - Carmarthen One return train per day (via Swansea) • Lack of local commuter services to serve the Swansea Bay area, in Cardiff - Swansea (Swanline local service) Two-hourly service particular an opportunity to use the Swansea District Line What are we looking to achieve through Metro? Listed below are areas and improvements the Swansea Bay and West Wales Metro network programme will be working towards in the future. South Wales Main Line (SWML): Swansea Bay and West Wales Metro network: 1. Reduce rail journey times between West Wales and 1. Reduce journey times between key population centres London towards targets of: including Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot, Llanelli, Information to think a. 90 minutes between Cardiff and London Paddington Carmarthen, Haverfordwest and Milford Haven. about... b. 30 minutes between Cardiff and Bristol Temple Meads 2. Increase service frequencies: Previous work and input from c. 30 minutes between Swansea and Cardiff a. For local stations on the main line between stakeholders including Transport for 2. Increase service frequencies between South West Wales Carmarthen and Port Talbot, especially during peak Wales, Carmarthenshire County Council, and London, Cardiff and Bristol Temple Meads and periods Neath Port Talbot County Borough Swansea and Cardiff. b. On the Heart of Wales Line to serve commuters into Council, Pembrokeshire County Council, Swansea and beyond 3. Provide sufficient capacity and improve rail network Swansea Council, Network Rail, and resilience between Cardiff and Bristol to accommodate c. Across South West Wales to improve suitably for daily Passenger Focus, has identified areas future passenger and freight demand. commuting and improvement to think about moving forward. 4. Enhance rail connectivity to international gateways/ 3. Improve regional transport accessibility through widening airports and enterprise zones. the spatial reach of the rail network and services These areas are in addition to existing 5. Improve Park and Ride provision for accessing the South 4. Improve Park and Ride provision for access to the commitments by Transport for Wales Wales Main Line and reduce reliance on the M4 corridor. Swansea Bay region. in South West Wales which include the 6. Improve integration between main line rail and the wider 5. Provide a viable public transport alternative to the introduction of new and refurbished trains transport network, especially the developing South Wales congested M4/A48 corridor. and an additional daily service on the Heart of Wales Line. and Bristol Metro systems 6. Contribute to developing a Swansea Bay Urban Area 7. Maximise the potential for stations to accelerate urban Metro including improvements to multi-modal Over the next few pages, you’ll see the regeneration and major development site delivery. interchanges. areas and improvements that have been 8. Increase the number of trips made by public transport, 7. Maximise the potential for stations to accelerate urban identified, which we would like your focusing on commuter trips. regeneration and major development site delivery. thoughts on. 9. Reduce the environmental impact of transport, especially 8. Increase the number of trips made by public transport, carbon emissions and air quality. focusing particularly on commuter trips. 10. Improve rail network efficiency to allow a lower future 9. Reduce the environmental impact of transport, especially subsidy requirement per passenger. carbon emission and air quality. 10. Improve rail network efficiency to allow a lower future subsidy requirement per passenger. 1. London - Swansea/Carmarthen 2. Taunton/Bristol - Carmarthen/Milford Haven via Swansea or SDL 3. 1tpd extended from London - Carmarthen to Milford Haven 4. Milford Haven to Bristol (via Swansea or SDL) 5. Grand Union Trains London - Swansea/Llanelli 6 6. Cardiff to SWW Line speed improvements Other routes Long distance services and main 1 tph < 0.5 tph 0.5 tph 1 Option number line infrastructure improvements: Llandovery Proposed West Wales Parkway Clarbeston Fishguard Harbour Road Bridgend Newport 2 4 6 6 3 1 5 Milford Haven Haverfordwest Whitland Carmarthen Llanelli Swansea Neath Port Talbot Cardiff Bristol Parkway Parkway or Temple Meads Pembroke Dock Figure 4: SWML long distance services Services Infrastructure OPTION SERVICE PROPOSAL ADDITIONAL FREQUENCY TOTAL FREQUENCY SERVICE OPTION OUTPUT PROPOSAL One train per hour off-peak Option 1 London Paddington to Swansea every 30 min all day Half Hourly service (Cardiff to Swansea) Review of line speeds between Reduction in West Wales Express: Taunton/Bristol Temple Meads to Cardiff Option 6 services extended to Carmarthen or Milford Haven (hourly) One train per hour (Cardiff to Hourly service (1.5 trains per hour Cardiff and West journey times Option 2 either via Swansea or via Swansea District Line (SDL) or with/ Carmarthen or Milford Haven) on Milford Haven branch) Wales without West Wales Parkway Station (Felindre) Decarbonisation One return train per day Extend the current fast service from Carmarthen to London, to Option 26 Electrification and journey time Option 3 (Carmarthen to Haverfordwest Daily service (One train each way) begin and end its day at Milford Haven or Haverfordwest reduction or Milford Haven) Milford Haven to Bristol Parkway or Bristol Temple Meads One train every two hours Option 4 One train every two hours every two hours (hourly on Milford Haven branch) Potential for Grand Union Trains to provide additional services Up to six trains per day Up to one train every two-three Option 5 on South Wales Main Line (two initially to Cardiff) hours (up to six trains per day) 7. Swansea/Carmarthen - Milford Haven every 2 hours 8. Manchester - Carmarthen - Milford Haven every 2 hours (total hourly) 9. Swansea - Pembroke Dock every 2 hours, total hourly 10. Manchester - Carmarthen - Pembroke Dock every 2 hours 11. Swansea - Fishguard 2 hourly service 27. Cardiff - Swansea every 2 hours (total hourly stopping service) 28. Swansea - Shrewsbury additional services Other routes Llandovery Frequency and connectivity: West Wales 1 tph < 0.5 tph 0.5 tph 1 Option number 28 Fishguard Harbour 11 8 10 7 27 Milford Haven 9 Haverfordwest Clarbeston Road Whitland Carmarthen Llanelli Swansea Neath Port Talbot Bridgend Cardiff