Now, onto what I’m expecting to be the most popular post in this series: the rail network.
This was a nightmare to write to the point that I considered packing it in halfway through. Constructive criticism is welcome but keep that in mind.
- The complicated nature of how rail services and rail infrastructure is managed (more later). Services, rolling stock/trains and the actual infrastructure itself are managed by different companies and agencies.
- Similar to buses (Part VII), while there’s a rose-tinted view of British Rail, privatisation has failed to deliver some benefits to passengers. “Turn up and go”/on-the-day ticket prices are some of the most expensive in Europe1. Also, contradicting privatisation, rail infrastructure and some train operators remain publicly owned and heavily subsidised.
- Fares can be confusing. Multiple separate railcards offer discounts to specific groups, as well as there being different types of fare based on flexibility, travel class and time of day. At one point there were 55 million different rail fare options in the UK2. There are plans to reform this.
- The Covid-19 pandemic killed year-on-year passenger growth dating to before 2002. Passenger journeys in 2021-22 were 43% lower than they were at the peak in 2018-19 (31.1 million)3. Like buses, there’s been a slow post-pandemic recovery.
- Ongoing (as of September 2023) industrial disputes between the major rail unions and the UK Government over the future of rail services, pay and working conditions.
- Reliability issues in Wales caused by legacy ageing rolling stock, lack of staff and changes to maintenance regimes.
- In 2019, 3.7% of passengers arriving at Cardiff during peak times were on an overcrowded train4 and between a third and half of all passengers were standing5 – the highest rate in EnglandandWales at the time and higher than the all-London average (3.5%). Anecdotally, there are similar problems on the rest of the Wales & Borders network. Rail companies seem to have an inability to properly plan for major events in Wales or respond to surges in demand.
- Crime on the railway estate returned to pre-pandemic levels quickly, with a little over 1,500 incidents reported in 2021-223. The majority of incidents involve violence against the person, public order offences or criminal damage.
- Around half of railway stations in Wales remain inaccessible to the disabled6.
- Most freight in Wales continues to move by road/HGV rather than rail, with issues around capacity for additional freight movements and possibly a lack of suitable intermodal freight terminals.
1. BBC (14th August 2019). “Are UK train fares the highest in Europe?” Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49346642
2. Sky News (8th May 2018). “Commuters to have their say on ‘outdated’ rail ticketing system”. Available at: https://news.sky.com/story/commuters-to-have-their-say-on-outdated-rail-ticketing-system-11363558?awc=11005_1690204345_fd00e5bd7dfdef2d50fad9af2d9ed60f&dcmp=afc-85386-na-na-longtail&dclid=CMDGg-21p4ADFRJFHQkdbIcA1A
3. Welsh Government (19th April 2023). “Rail transport: April 2021 to March 2022”. Available here: https://www.gov.wales/rail-transport-april-2021-march-2022
4. UK Department of Transport (22nd September 2022). “Passengers over capacity on a typical autumn weekday by city: annual from 2011”. Available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/rai02-capacity-and-overcrowding
5. UK Department of Transport (22nd September 2022). “Peak rail capacity, standard class critical loads and crowding on a typical autumn weekday by city: 2019”. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/rai02-capacity-and-overcrowding
6. Equality & Human Rights Commission (December 2020). “Accessible public transport for older and disabled people in Wales”. Available at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/accessible-public-transport-for-older-and-disabled-people-in-wales.pdf
