To receive
a report by Sam Hadley, Network Rail.
Minutes:
Mr Sam Hadley, Wales Route Public Affairs Manager, was welcomed to the meeting and he
reported on the following matters:
o Performance on the railways had
not been good enough over the summer, and an
intermittent problem had been
discovered with the signals system, however, this had now been
resolved.
o He suggested the possibility
of having a visit for a small group
to see the signals centre at Machynlleth, or to organise
a presentation for a future Conference meeting.
o The rough weather
had been a problem, and difficulties in other areas had an impact on the
Cambrian Coast Railway services. He recognised the frustration of railway
users, and noted that Network Rail was monitoring problematic areas carefully,
and was working on long-term solutions.
o Performance monitoring arrangements
were now monitoring in greater
detail and focused on arrival
times at individual stations rather than the start and end of the journey.
o This change
had led to minor changes locally
in order to improve efficiency.
o That a new
business model had been developed, which gave more flexibility to target expenditure in the areas required.
o That the improvements made following October 2018 had borne fruit, leading
to less damage to wheels and keeping
more vehicles in operation. In turn this meant that
vehicles would not be taken from the Cambrian Railway and diverted to alleviate a shortage in other areas.
o The Williams Review was likely
to report following the election, with a presumption of significant changes to the railways.
o Friog Wall - An officer from Network Rail had been to a
community meeting, that plans had been developed
jointly with the Council to undertake the work.
No date had been set thus far.
o Talwrn Bach level crossing - Work had been planned for year 3 of the existing funding period,
namely 2021-22. There was also be a
need to cooperate with local landowners.
o Afon Artro bridge - Photographs of the work were shown, that had caused the
line to close temporarily. He noted that there were a high number of wooden
bridges on the Cambrian Coast Railway and that Network Rail used the
maintenance work to develop techniques to be used on Barmouth Bridge.
o He apologised that information had been sent out recently in
English only to stakeholders, and expressed amazement that this had happened
in such a Welsh speaking area.
Questions and
observations arising from the discussion:
o Regarding Arto Bridge, would it not have been beneficial to undertake work on Tŷ Gwyn and Llandanwg bridges at the same time?
In response, Sam Hadley noted that
it was a sensible suggestion
and he assumed
that there was a sensible reason for undertaking work only on
this bridge. Network Rail had seen when
undertaking work on the Conwy Valley line that it was cost effective to undertake as many pieces of maintenance work as possible at the same time on
the section of line.
o What type of
service would be undertaken on a Sunday in the future?
o Would free
travel with a pass continue?
o Would the Cambrian Railway continue to lose carriages to other parts of Wales?
In response, Sam Hadley noted that the
Sunday rail service would change from 3 to 5 trains a
day, with a further increase in the future. Travelling with a pass would
continue to be seasonal only because of the lack of capacity on the trains to
maintain this throughout the year. He
added that the occasions whereby carriages would be lost to other areas would
reduce as vehicles were upgraded in other areas, and
vehicles that suit the Cambrian Railway well would remain on it.
The members
expressed their thanks for the report.