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SubscribeCut it out The branch is concerned that North Wales may be seen by troubled North Western Trains as a soft touch for service cuts and fares increases. Many fares in North Wales increased by three times the rate of inflation in September as part of NWT's attempts to avoid financial problems. Passengers in the Manchester and Merseyside areas, where passenger transport executives keep tabs on NWT, had no comparable increases. North Wales will also bear the brunt of service cuts in next May's timetable, according to recent reports. The entire Sunday service on the Wrexham-Bidston line is threatened with the axe as well as several services on the Chester-Holyhead main line. In a press release after the fare rises, RDS North Wales urged passengers, politicians and the Welsh Office to make a stand now. In the future we hope the Welsh Assembly will protect Welsh interests in these matters.
Taking stock North Wales has also seen worse rolling stock substituted by NWT on some services this year. A five-coach locomotive-hauled train on the Holyhead-Chester main line has been replaced by a two-coach Class 101 heritage diesel multiple unit which is totally unsuitable for such a long journey. In order to launch new services from Blackpool and Rochdale to London, several Class 158 units were taken off the North Wales main line and replaced by Class 156 units, an older and less comfortable type of train. When questioned by the media about the branch's concerns, NWT said the Class 101 and 156 trains were superior to the ones they replaced!
Trawsfynydd SOS The branch has asked Gwynedd Council to consider an experimental summer Sunday service on the Blaenau Ffestiniog-Trawsfynydd line, which was due to be mothballed by Railtrack at the end of October. The line was kept to serve the now-closed nuclear power station at Trawsfynydd and is one of relatively few railways to penetrate Snowdonia National Park, where growing car traffic is causing alarm among official bodies. We suggested, as a first step, a service modelled on Devon's successful Okehampton service of the past two summers. Such a service could assist people who are trying to develop tourism in the beautiful but remote Trawsfynydd area.
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