Evidence from Mary Wright – WBF 33

Dear Dr Phipps,

1) I am writing to discuss the future of the Wales and Border Rail Franchise.

2) The current service, leaving only every two hours from Aberystwyth to Birmingham is not frequent enough to meet demand for the service, especially during the beginning and end of terms at Aberystwyth University. There are frequently only two coaches starting at Aberystwyth meaning that coaches have had to be summoned regularly to deal with passenger demand.

The trains are frequently late, or even cancelled, and with the service only running every two hours this can regularly mean a missed connection and a missed appointment.

3) The train stops at Dovey Junction, which many travellers think should be made a ‘request stop’ as it is a very rare occurrence for anyone to board or disembark at this station and wastes time on an already long journey out of Wales.

4) It would be useful if the Government were to ask for the opinions of the residents of rural areas such as Aberystwyth in their plans to develop the railway line.

5) An hourly service would be warmly welcomed, allowing journeys beyond to be made more easily without long layover times waiting for connections. If possible, ‘express’ trains with fewer stops on the way to Birmingham would cut the journey time down massively, and if they were only a few times a day this would not damage the service to the rural communities between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury.

6) The rolling stock would benefit from having more carriages from Aberystwyth onwards to deal with passenger demand, as well as more luggage storage and power sockets.

Thank you for your enquiries into this matter,

Mary Wright