Venue: Y Ganolfan (ger yr Harbwr), Porthmadog
Contact: Glynda O'Brien 01341 424301
No. | Item |
---|---|
ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN To elect a Chairman for 2015-16. Minutes: Resolved: (a) To
re-elect Councillor Selwyn Griffiths as Chair of this Committee for 2015/16. (b) To express the Committee’s thanks to
Councillor Selwyn Griffiths for his hard work in his role as Chairman over the
last year. |
|
ELECTION OF VICE CHAIRMAN To elect a
Vice-chairman for 2015/16. Minutes: Resolved: (a) To
re-elect Councillor Eryl Jones-Williams as Vice-chair of this Committee for
2015/16. (b) Councillor Eryl Jones-Williams
was asked to chair this meeting as Councillor Selwyn Griffiths was unable to
attend due to a family bereavement. |
|
APOLOGIES Minutes: Councillors Selwyn Griffiths, John Brynmor Hughes, Gethin
Williams, Mrs Liz Saville Roberts
(Member of Parliament Dwyfor/Meirionnydd), Ms Rebecca Evans (Assembly Member,
Mid and West Wales), Mr Simon Thomas (Assembly Member Mid and West Wales), Mr
Tudur Williams (Ysgol Ardudwy), Mr Trevor Roberts
(Shrewsbury-Aberystwyth Railway Committee). |
|
DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST Minutes: No declarations of personal interest were received from any
member present. |
|
URGENT MATTERS To consider any business which the Chairman decides is urgent. Minutes: No urgent matters were received for discussion. |
|
To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting held on 24 April 2015. Minutes: Submitted: Minutes
of the conference meeting that took place on 24 April 2015. Resolved: To accept and approve the above
minutes. |
|
REPORT BY NETWORK RAIL To receive a report by Mr Dylan Bowen, Network Rail. Minutes: No written report was submitted by Network Rail, however, Mr
Dylan Bowen reported verbally on the following developments: (i) That Network Rail had written to the
stakeholders to advise that there would
be a delay with the work of completing the lift at Machynlleth
Station until March 2016. Due to the weather forecast for this weekend,
it would be impossible to use the
crane and it was trusted that the work could be completed by March. (ii) In response to the above, a Member stated
his disappointment and that only one
platform could be used and in addition passengers had to wait at Dyfi Junction. Having
said this, it was felt that the provision when in place would be a huge improvement. (i)
In response to a question by Councillor Owain
Williams regarding concern about the delay at Dyfi
Junction specifically for passengers from Machynlleth
to Pwlheli, Mr Bowen explained that in terms of
upgrading the route for road-users Network Rail would be more than willing to
collaborate with a third party to provide a plan but it would be more
beneficial if such a plan could be included in a wider transport plan. It was
stressed that Network Rail would not be responsible as the main driver of any
plan in terms of funding but it was ensured that they would collaborate with
authorities and he made reference to examples where such plans had been
operated to provide car parks in South Wales. (ii)
It was suggested that an item to discuss Dyfi Junction should be referred to the joint meeting of
the Shrewsbury-Aberystwyth Railway Committee and the Cambrian Coast Railway
Committee that would take place on 27 November 2015 at y Plas,
Machynlleth. (v) In terms of Cllr Gethin Williams' question
regarding implementing a moratorium
on Barmouth Bridge payments during the
planning/repair period, Mr Bowen noted
that he had discussed the matter earlier with the Member. It was noted further that Network Rail was
in the same position as Gwynedd Council regarding having to find savings with a
target to find approximately 20% over the next period. However, discussions
were continuing with Gwynedd Council regarding repairing the bridge with the
intention of reducing maintenance costs.
It was currently premature to report fully but it was noted that initial
discussions were on-going between Network Rail and relevant stakeholders including
Gwynedd Council and the Snowdonia National Park and CADW. (vi) Mr David Roberts referred to concern
regarding land in the ownership of Network
Rail called Bryn Llestair (Picnic Island) and he was
aware that the South Snowdonia Access
Forum had contacted Network Rail regarding the land
yet they had not received a response. The land was used by approximately 1,000 students from Outward
Bound Wales. (iii) In response to the above, Mr Bowen noted that he was not aware of the matter, however, if the South Snowdonia Access Forum could contact him and/or via the Member Support Officer he gave an assurance that he would follow the ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
|
REPORT BY ARRIVA TRAINS WALES LTD PDF 323 KB To receive a report by Mr Ben Davies, Arriva Trains Wales. Minutes: Reference was made to the report submitted and attached to
the agenda by Mr Ben Davies on behalf of Arriva Trains Wales Ltd. that referred
to: · Key achievements – noting that customer satisfaction was
at record levels (89%) and was one of the top performing rail operators in the
UK · Performance measures – 97.9% and 93.5% in terms of
reliability and punctuality ·
£45m had been
invested against a franchise requirement of only £400,000 · New and improved services that included adding trains with
additional seats, introducing new products and supporting community
projects ·
Franchise overview
and it was stated there were: o
2,204 employees o
1,009 route miles o
956 services
operated per day o
27.4 million
passenger journeys per year o
a fleet of 128
trains o
247 stations, 55
of which were staffed. During the meeting an additional hand-out was circulated
to the Members. Mr Ben Davies added that there had been an increase in the
number of passengers on the trains during this summer and that this was
heartening year on year with the ERTMS system proving to be a success. A new service was seen from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth with
the 7.00pm train and although it did not stop at each Railway Station
discussions were continuing to try and resolve the situation. Mr Trevor Roberts, Vice-Chair of the Shrewsbury and
Aberystwyth Railway Committee had been in discussion with officers from Welsh
Government regarding a timetable that was acceptable to all. It was recognised
that there was a need to give consideration to establishing more shelters and
more car parks and the intention would be to conduct local discussions. In response to the
complaints regarding long waits for connections at Dyfi
Junction, the Cambrian Railway Partnership Officer explained that the matter
was receiving attention in terms of identifying which train has to wait long in
order to identify this for the new timetable next year. The following
matters were drawn to the attention of Mr Ben Davies and he gave an assurance
that he would give them urgent attention. (a)
That the train
windows were dirty (b)
Complaints
regarding the toilets Resolved: To accept and note the report and request
that Mr Ben Davies deals with points (a) and (b) above. |
|
REPORT BY THE CAMBRIAN RAILWAY OFFICER PDF 261 KB To receive a report by the Cambrian Railway Officer. Minutes: A report was submitted by the Cambrian Railways
Partnership Officer outlining the activities undertaken, such as: ·
A Helping Hand –
Film Project – film for young people with special needs that won an ACoRP award
in the category ‘Passengers Matter’. The
film had also been submitted to the UK Rail Industry Awards. In addition, it was noted that arrangements
were in hand to show the film and address Members of Parliament, Assembly
Members, Peers and senior civil servants at both the Senedd in Cardiff and the
Palace of Westminster. ·
Aberystwyth
Station – Shopmobility – there was an agreement in principle to work with CAVO
to meet rail passengers who had pre-booked a shopmobility scooter at
Aberystwyth station. ·
School Posters
Campaign - this was part of a programme in which pupils were tasked to design a
safety poster and a number had been displayed at stations local to their
schools. ·
Publications – he
elaborated on several examples in order to encourage railway use. ·
Cambrian
Implementation Group - focus groups and surveys had been organised together
with discussions with Caersws Community Council to look at the potential
opportunities for a more suitable car parking arrangement for the station ·
Community Rail
Wales – A meeting had taken place with the Minister to see how the work of
partnerships could be further supported by Welsh Government. ·
Website – it was
noted that the number of visitors were increasing. In response to a comment made by a Member regarding
promoting the film, the CRP Officer noted that Arriva Trains Wales would assist
with this. He took the opportunity to
thank Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas in relation to the arrangements to visit the
Senedd on 19 November to launch the film. It was added that it would be possible to show the film to
Members of this Committee at the next meeting, however, in the meantime a link
could be sent to the Member Support Officer to forward to Members. On behalf of the Committee, the CRP Officer was
congratulated for all his work in promoting the railway. Resolved: To
accept and note the report. |
|
REPORT BY BRITISH TRANSPORT POLICE PDF 101 KB To receive a report by a representative of the British Transport Police. Minutes: PC Rob Newman presented a brief
summary of recent activity and noted that not much had happened on the Cambrian
Railway. The majority of cases dealt with were road traffic offences mainly the
on-going problems of vehicle drivers misusing level crossings. Locally, it was noted that there
were cases of misuse across Talwrn Bach level crossing at Llanbedr. It was understood that barriers would be
installed soon on the level crossing in question. It was noted that the opening of
Wetherspoons Public House at Pwllheli had impacted on the amount of passengers
on the 20:12 hours service from Pwllheli to Machynlleth on Friday and Saturday
evenings. Some reports had been received from train crews reporting abuse from
passengers, particularly in relation to the time access given to the train
before departure from Pwllheli. They
would work closely with British Transport Police from Bangor and Rhyl to
monitor any further problems. It was noted further that if
there was any problem on the railway/trains that it was possible to contact
British Transport Police or send a text message to number 61016. In response to the Police
Officer's report, it was pleasing to hear that barriers would be installed on
Llanbedr level crossing bearing in mind that approximately 500 cars travelled
from Mochras at any one time and that it was one of the largest camps in
Europe. In response to a comment made by
a Member regarding having a Police Officer on duty outside Wetherspoons,
Pwllheli, PC Rob Newman explained that this would be under the jurisdiction of
North Wales Police but Pwllheli Transport Police could try to target problems
at the railway station and on the train.
It was not possible for them to be in Pwllheli every Saturday night but
it was understood that there was CCTV outside the public house. Resolved: To accept, note
and thank PC Rob Newman for the report. |
|
To receive responses to the questions enclosed herewith received since the previous meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: (a) Two
formal written questions had been submitted by Conference Members and it was
noted that the relevant officers had dealt with one of these during their
presentations. Regarding the question
from Councillor Gethin Williams it was understood that he had discussed the
matter with Mr Dylan Bowen, Network Rail.
(b) Membership – A request had been submitted by Penrhyndeudraeth Town Council together with a letter from the Meirionnydd Committee of Un Llais Cymru to invite every Community and Town Council with the railway line running through their wards to be members of the Cambrian Coast Railway Committee. It was reported to the meeting
that there were 16 Community / Town Councils on the coast. It was also noted that local Gwynedd Council
Members had been elected to serve on the Committee and were able to report to the
Community/Town Councils they attend on the matters discussed at the Cambrian
Coast Railway Liaison Conference. Following a discussion on this
matter, it was suggested that the Community/Town Councils may raise matters with
the Cambrian Coast Railway Liaison Conference by referring them to either the
local elected member / the two representatives of One Voice Wales and / or by
agreement of the Chair that a representative may be invited to attend the
meeting. Also, in future the Members and
Support Scrutiny Officer was requested
to send an agenda to the Clerks of the 16 Community / Town Councils as noted
below. Resolved: To
request that the Member Support Officer: (a)
responds to a letter from the Dwyfor and Meirionnydd Area Committee to convey
the Committee’s decision as outlined above. (b) in
the future that an agenda/minutes of the Committee is sent to the following
Community/Town Council Clerks: Meirionnydd Dwyfor Aberdyfi Porthmadog Tywyn Cricieth Llangelynnin Llanystumdwy Arthog Llannor (Abererch) Barmouth Pwllheli Dyffryn
Ardudwy Llanbedr Llanfair Harlech Talsarnau Penrhyndeudraeth |
|
To discuss a request received by the Chairman to invite a representative from all the Community Councils where the railway runs through their wards to become members of this Committee. Additional documents: |