A major investment in new bus, rail and cycle capacity has been recommended by a commission set up the Welsh Government to look at measures to reduce congestion on the M4 motorway around Newport in South Wales.
With a capital cost of between £600m to £840m over ten years, with annual revenue costs of between £15m to £35m, the investment has been recommended by the South East Wales Transport Commission, chaired by Lord Burns. which was commissioned to look at alternative transport options to relieve congestion on the motorway after First Minister Mark Drakeford last year rejected a £1.6bn Relief Road on cost and environment grounds.
The commission said the measures, including increasing the number train stations on the Great Western Mainline from the current three to nine, which it said would create capacity more than equal to the equivalent number of vehicles that would need to be removed from the M4 to improve traffic flow, even allowing for significant growth in demand for travel.
It said that significant new capacity created in new rail, bus and cycling networks would serve as competitive alternatives to the most frequent M4 journeys, providing greater levels of access and choice.
The commission says that reducing flow on the M4 by around 20% would significantly improve journey time reliability and facilitate speeds consistent with the 50mph average speed control, which it recommended in its interim report last December. It has also recommended improve lane discipline on the approach to the Brynglas Tunnels in Newport.
To complement existing stations at Cardiff Central, Newport and Severn Tunnel Junction, the proposed new stations would be: Newport Road (Cardiff), Cardiff Parkway (St Mellons), Newport West, Newport East (Somerton), Llanwern and Magor.
Planning applications for the new South Wales mainline station at St Mellons are expected to be submitted to Cardiff and Newport councils next week.
The Great Western Mainline in South Wales is not a devolved rail asset, so the Welsh Government would look to the 海角视频 Government to fund new stations as part of a wider series of rail investments across Wales to address an estimated several billion pounds worth of underinvestment in rail enhancements going back more than a decade.
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The commission also recommends the two track South Wales mainline is reconfigured to separate local, commuting services from inter-city services. , with its relief lines being upgraded so that all four tracks can operate up to 90mph.
The rail backbone would be supported by new rapid bus and cycle corridors across the region, especially within Newport.
Taken together, the reports says that 90% of Cardiff and Newport’s population would live within a mile of a rail station or rapid bus corridor if the proposals are taken forward.
In total the commission has predicted a capital cost of between £590m and £840m.
This consists of:
- Railway: relief line upgrade and reconfiguration. £130m to £180m
- Railway: improvements £140m to £190m
- Railway: new stations £120m to £170m
- Rapid bus routes: £100m to £130m
- Commuter cycle corridors: £40m to £90m
- Other measures: £60m to £80m
Other recommendations include:
Creating new rapid bus and commuter cycle corridors across Cardiff and Newport. These would run parallel to the new proposed railway stations which follow the M4.
Creating a network of bus and cycle corridors within Newport.
Making a ticket system across all services using a "cross-city zonal fare system."
Creating a cycle hire scheme.
Co-ordinating bus and rail timetables, with services running every 15 minutes. Train service frequencies should be "at least" four trains per hour wherever reasonable.
Making sure transport fares are "affordable for all."
Lord Burns said: "The area around the M4 is a very important economic corridor for Wales. It is expanding and becoming an attractive place for people to work and live. Just like similar regions in the 海角视频 and other European countries, it needs a range of attractive, affordable and coordinated transport options to fulfil its potential.
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"It is clear that people in South East Wales do not have good alternatives to the M4. Many people have little choice but to use the motorway, given the lack of public transport options. We believe that a competitively priced, efficient and reliable public transport network could become the first choice for many travellers.
"Even a moderate reduction in the number of cars travelling on the M4 could result in a significant improvement to the travel flow. The changes we are suggesting would generate considerable extra capacity in our region’s transport system. This shift to public and active transport would have many wider benefits beyond relieving congestion, including cutting air pollution, improving public health, and providing better access to jobs and services for everyone.
Beyond infrastructure, the report recommends:
- New ways to organise transport services, speeding up interchange, coordinating timetables and integrating ticketing
- a New governance model so there is a ‘single guiding mind’ to organise the whole public transport network.
- Measures to reduce the need to travel, including superfast broadband-enabled remote working sites so people can work closer to home.
- Local authorities consider introducing a workplace parking levy to influence travel choices, once public transport improvements have been made.
- A transport-focused approach to planning, ensuring developments are built around the public transport network rather than the motorway.
Reaction
In a joint statement Ben Francis, FSB Wales policy chair and Wayne Harvey, CBI Wales chair, said: “Businesses in Wales will find much to welcome in today’s report, and we are pleased that as the two largest business organisations in Wales, we have had an opportunity to contribute to the commission’s consideration.
“For far too long, transport in and around South East Wales has been fractured, disjointed and ineffective, which has caused much frustration for businesses that need to move them, their people and their products around the region. The problems caused by congestion on the M4 have for so many years frustrated businesses and risked business growth and economic development
“We support the idea of businesses and citizens having access to a ‘network of alternatives’ to help remove traffic from the M4 and this is something that businesses have been keen to explore for some time.
"However, against a backdrop of several years of unreliable services that have made many commuters feel forced into their cars, for this to be successful in practice businesses will need to feel that they can have confidence in these proposals."
The Future Generations Commissioner, Sophie Howe, said "The debate around the future of the chronically congested M4 has been too much about the needs of the car and not enough about the needs of the people of South East Wales and our environment.
"The South East Wales Transport Commission’s final report is a shift away from that - a vision of a properly integrated and properly funded public transport system which would make huge improvements to quality of life for communities in Newport, Cardiff and beyond.
"New rail stations for places not served by access to trains, rapid bus and cycle corridors - these are exciting proposals and exactly the sort of vision set out by our groundbreaking Well-being of Future Generations Act.
"We’ve long debated the impact on congestion from doing nothing along the M4 corridor - well now we have the chance to do something: to act and make change, to support the growth of one of Wales’ most important economic regions, to cut pollution and make this an even more attractive place to live and do business.
"Critically, these proposals would remove thousands of car journeys not just from a log-jammed stretch of the M4, but from a regional road network already creaking under the sheer volume of traffic - traffic which was only set to grow and grow if we don’t give people realistic options to change the way they travel.
"It is critical that Welsh Government now establish and resource a joint delivery team empowered with a clear remit and budget to put these plans in place, as recommended in the report. This should include key local authority players and public transport, active travel and community experts to get these plans moving.”