Business supports the Western Gateway 2050 Rail Vision
Local business and political leaders across South Wales and Western England helped launch the Western Gateway Rail Vision 2050 last month. Ian Edwards, who chairs the Western Gateway steering committee on strategic rail, reflects on why this vision is such a positive milestone for the area.
I was delighted to join local leaders, business and industry partners in Bristol last week for the launch of our 2050 Western Gateway Rail Vision.
Efficient rail travel is vital to meeting our collective net zero responsibilities but is also key in enabling us to access the beautiful places and opportunities that exist across our geography. This vision offers much-needed ambition for the area for a much-improved rail system that suits an area like ours that has so much potential.
Our Western Gateway vision is:
- Transformational: nearly halving journey times across the area and beyond
- Deliverable: built on top of work that is already underway
- Value for money: For relatively little investment, this vision connects some of our country’s highest growth industries to unlock productivity hurdles and contribute towards unlocking £34bn for the UK economy
As the Secretary of State for Wales, the Rt. Hon. David TC Davies MP acknowledged in his address at last week’s launch event, there are ‘140,000 people crossing the Severn and over half the population of the UK living within two hours of the Western Gateway footprint’. Yet a train from Bristol to Swansea and access to the stunning Gower Peninsula takes 90 minutes with only one train per hour. This Vision looks to take a third off these journey times with up to three trains per hour presenting a turn-up-and-go alternative and as much as 45 minutes slashed on a Swansea to London journey.
Our vision unlocks access to jobs and opportunities to develop new skills. It also significantly improves access to some of the great cultural cities, historic landmarks and areas of natural beauty that exist across South Wales and Western England.
What is the basis of this vision and what is the case? Well, we’ve spoken to leaders and businesses to inform our work and had the likes of Transport for Wales, Great Western Railway (GWR) and CrossCountry come together as operators to show their support.
Post-covid recovery has only added to the case for greater investment with the majority of travel back to 90% of pre-covid levels. Leisure and tourism presents a unique case, with weekend days and some leisure routes up to 110% or more of pre-covid levels. Sunday travel in particular is booming and GWR have launched their ‘Long Weekender’ ticket to Bristol and Cardiff, specifically targeting that leisure market.
The World is moving again. People are working from home but they are also returning to offices and they are exploring new opportunities to combine work and leisure.
Train stations are more than ever key to opening up communities and opening up business.
This is far from an out-dated model. Rail Stations are at the centre of any modern redevelopment project and remain essential for reliable, sustainable travel.
They are also key to unlocking communities with enhanced rail services between Ebbw Vale and Cardiff have connected potentially left behind areas to new skills and jobs.
Rail also plays a huge role in the facilitation of business events in the region. Before the pandemic, the events industry was worth £70bn in direct spend to the UK annually, £40bn of which could be attributed to business events. While the sector was damaged during the pandemic, it has burst back in 2022, far outperforming 2019 in terms of number of events held and number of delegates attending.
Business events are not just a vital economic component to the region, but they play a key role in knowledge exchange and driving advancements on matters on everything from sustainability to healthcare. With the need for face-to-face events so evident and demand remaining strong, it is imperative that we encourage as many delegates as possible to attend our venues and events by rail.
There is so much happening already and this Vision builds on this great work to crystalise a shared vision for the future that is progressive and exciting.
As Chair of the Western Gateway’s Rail Steering Committee, I have had the privilege to be at the heart of this work over the past 10 months or so. It has been great working with such a committed group of Council Leaders and representatives from across our geography, not least the primary transport bodies of Transport for Wales and the Western Gateway Sub-National Transport Body, ably supported by the Cardiff Capital Region and the West of England Combined Authority.
I look forward to developing our Vision further, realising new investment and, ultimately, delivering a rejuvenated rail network that delivers for our people and places.
