Agenda item

To receive an oral report by Network Rail representative

Sam Hadley, Wales Route Public Affairs Manager, was welcomed to the meeting and he introduced Kevin Collins (Network Rail Route Delivery Director (Wales)) to respond directly to matters regarding work on the boundary wall on the A493 between Llwyngwril and Friog.  

Llangelynnin Community Council wanted to know when the long-awaited work of installing crash barriers and to repair the boundary wall on the A493 between Llwyngwril and Friog would commence. It was reported that the matter had been submitted to Gwynedd Council in January 2015, however, the matter had been transferred to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in May 2015, as NRW were responsible for the boundary wall and the crash barrier. The complaint had been drawn to the attention of the Cambrian Coast Railway Liaison Committee in March 2017 and had been discussed several times since then and remained unresolved.

KC noted that the work was now on Network Rail's priority list and a budget and resources had been earmarked for this. A pledge was made that there would be better communication with local residents and a site visit would be organised with local Councillors. It was added that stakeholders needed to be reassured that the work was being prioritised and although there was no time schedule for the work, he would be willing to present an update at the next meeting.

·         SH to arrange for a letter to be sent to local residents informing them of what was proposed. 

·         Update to be submitted to the next meeting

In response, Councillor Louise Hughes (Member for Llangelynnin) thanked the officer and stated that the condition of the wall was now disastrous and she was very supportive of Network Rail's response.   When it was asked for a possible date, KC noted that he could not give a specific date but once a time schedule was in place, the dates would be shared with SH and LHE.   He accepted there had been difficulties in the past, however, he was confident that the response highlighted Network Rail's intention to improve the situation. 

·         The dates of the work time schedule to be shared with SH and LHE.

Mr Collins was thanked for attending the meeting and for the update.

Glandulas Project (Black Bridge) near Machynlleth

That the work of erecting the bridge over afon Dulas had been completed. The bridge had been erected one metre higher to reduce the impact of flooding and to prevent the closure of the line as a result to the river level rising during storms and heavy rain.  It was noted that Councillor Michael Williams and Councillor Trevor Roberts had been campaigning for some time regarding this.  The work was welcomed and this would prevent serious delays for Cambrian Railway services. 

Shrewsbury Station

In response to a question about a scheme to improve Shrewsbury station and the opportunity to increase the number of platforms for Cambrian Railway services, it was noted that discussions were being held with Transport for Wales regarding the re-use of platforms in Shrewsbury and the intention was to increase the number of platforms to offer more services. It was suggested that BG should contact SH and LJ directly to receive further information. 

The officers were thanked for the updates.