Memorandum submitted by Wrexham County Borough Council (CBPS 34)

Transport Services

1. The following is the evidence submitted by Wrexham County Borough Council to the Committee for consideration.

2. Wrexham County Borough Council as a border County and regional centre, is committed to maximising collaboration and efficiency in cross-boundary transport services, as is evident from its proactive involvement and engagement with the Mersey Dee Alliance and the Taith Regional Transport Consortium. The Wales Spatial Plan recognises the complex interactions and cross-border patterns of all facets of public and private sector life.

3. Wrexham County Borough Council sees Transport Services as a cross-cutting theme across a significant part of its business, as well as the other public services which are being currently scrutinised - Education and Health - there is also Economic Activity, Access to Employment, Planning and Housing issues, to name but a few.

4. There are many issues which are shared by Wrexham and our English neighbours. Sustained investments in the economic and residential offer within the County Borough are one of the issues at the forefront of our business. Substantial improvements and developments in the retail offer, health sector and housing within the changing face of the County Borough can, if not adequately addressed, cause considerable strain on highway infrastructure, at the very least this can increase the level of unsustainable travel.

5. Wrexham is identified as a regional centre for healthcare (including Wrexham Maelor Hospital for much of Deeside and Southern Denbighshire). Wrexham Industrial Estate is also a key trip attractor with approximately 7,000 employees travelling from North East Wales, the Wirral and the North West of England. The Eagles Meadow development, due to open in Autumn of 2008 will further enhance the attractiveness of the town centre.

6. The emergence of the Wrexham Shuttle, a demand responsive transport service for the Industrial Estate, calling at Wrexham General Station and funded in part by S.156 revenue support from the WAG, has the ability to offer sustainable and reliable links for commuters from further afield to further benefit from increased sustainable travel options. Evidence suggests that the recent trend towards enhanced use of passenger transport services will continue. It is therefore of paramount importance that capital investments are made to ensure consistent enhancement to facilitate improvements.

7. There are challenges faced by Wrexham and North East Wales in providing travel solutions across the England / Wales border. Significant growth in the number of employers to the region, coupled with a tight local labour market, in contrast to some 33,000 economically inactive residents in the Wirral, identifies the need for proactive and collaborative development of enhanced services to meet the demand and improve access. Clearly, sustainable travel options need to be developed and maintained to facilitate access to employment for the sub-region.

8. Examples of existing Cross Boundary partnering

There are a number of examples in recent times where Wrexham County Borough Council have been instrumental in developing options for improvements to local transport infrastructure with English partners.

8.1. This Council was the Lead Body (on behalf of Taith) in delivering the Scott Wilson Railways study into opportunities to enhance the Chester - Wrexham - Shrewsbury rail corridor, the Steering Group and funding partners consisted of the WAG, Taith, Cheshire and Shropshire County Councils, Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council, Oswestry Town Council and Arriva Trains Wales. It is understood that further work is to be undertaken by Network Rail to identify the potential for improvements following on from this study.

8.2. The Scott Wilson report identified some key capacity constraints within the Chester - Wrexham - Shrewsbury corridor:

8.2.1. The section between North Wrexham and Saltney Junction is regarded as one of, or the, busiest section of single track railway in the UK. Improvements in the capacity of this section can lead to the introduction of improved passenger and freight service frequencies. There would be substantial benefits to both Wales and England if this could be delivered.

8.2.2. The introduction of a rail station at the Lache (for Chester Business Park) would lead to substantial improvements in the connectivity of this area and open up employment opportunities to a wider catchment.

8.2.3. The introduction of infrastructure enhancements to the single line would allow a more frequent passenger service between Wrexham and Chester, making connections with other rail services (such as the Llandudno - Manchester Piccadilly) possible.

8.2.4. The development of a freight terminal on the line would be beneficial to the immediate area, the sub-region and England and Wales, given the level of economic activity. It may also reduce the burden of freight traffic on the highway. The WAG sponsored trial of timber movements between South Wales and the Kronospan facility at Chirk was successful in removing significant numbers of road freight units from the road. Wrexham Council would like to see other opportunities explored for the good of the UK at large.

8.3. This Council was also a key partner in the delivery of the Faber Maunsell study into improvements in respect of the Wrexham - Bidston (Borderlands) rail corridor, alongside Merseytravel, Flintshire and Cheshire Councils and the Welsh Development Agency / WAG. The WAG and Merseytravel have sponsored Network Rail to undertake a fast-track GRIP 3 study to deliver costs of the identified options. On-going progress through the GRIP process has been confirmed as part of the TAITH Public Transport Infrastructure Programme - Transport Grant - funding, which includes £1M for the project in 2008/9. It is understood that Merseytravel have also made a significant sum available in 2008/9 for further development. Wrexham County Borough Council are entirely in support of the electrification of this corridor, seamless journeys from Wrexham to Liverpool, removing the need to change trains at Bidston, is seen as one of the biggest moves towards modal shift in the sub-region.

8.4. Wrexham County Borough Council has proactive relationships with Cheshire and Shropshire County Councils in the delivery of supported and complimentary local bus services that are socially necessary but not commercially viable. The arrangements involve a lead authority, which tenders for the transport provision and subsequently recharges the partner authority for the percentage of mileage in their County. In recent years the commitment to retain these essential services has been very encouraging, allowing them to continue and to flourish. Relationships also extend to information sharing on changes to local transport networks and discussions on how to retain the most efficient and effective sustainable networks.

8.5. Wrexham County Borough Council is an active partner in the development of options for a Long Distance Bus and Coach network for North Wales. Focusing attention on access to key employment sites away from existing railway stations (such as the A55 trunk road) the study is investigating the potential for a network to meet the needs of commuters and off-peak travellers alike. It is intended that the study, currently being conducted by Peter Brett Associates and funded through Taith Transport Grant via the WAG, will analyse the likely success of regional transportation across the 6 counties of North Wales and access to Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester Airports.

9. Mersey Dee Alliance (MDA)

9.1. Wrexham County Borough Council is now a constituted member of the MDA borne from the shared economic and community interests across Wirral, West Cheshire and North East Wales, with a collective population of some 930,000.

9.2. The Alliance agrees to work together to further common strategic interests to sustain the economic future of the travel to work area and a coherent approach to social, economic and environmental issues.

9.3. One of the Alliances' priorities is the electrification of the Borderlands (Wrexham - Bidston Railway) line. The Transport & Accessibility Thematic Working Group has established a sub-group that meets regularly to focus on this specific project, reporting to Board level. The line has the potential to offer significant betterment by enhancing rail connectivity between Wrexham, Flintshire and the Wirral for Liverpool. Network Rail is currently finalising a GRIP3 study into the costs associated with incremental electrification of the rail corridor, this project is joint funded by the WAG and Merseytravel.

9.4. The Alliance also maintains a sub-group for the development of collaborative frameworks towards improved Demand Responsive Transport Services. The Deeside Shuttle, Wrexham Shuttle and Joblink (Wirral) services have been operating for some time now. The sub-group is looking at collaborative opportunities to share good practise, make appropriate efficiencies and deliver improved and extended services. The different ways in which such services are funded in England and Wales can occasionally prove to be both challenging and beneficial to this process.

10. Access to the National Rail Network

10.1. Wrexham benefits from good rail services to the direct stations served, predominantly in Wales and the Borders, including Holyhead, Chester, Cardiff and Shrewsbury as well as Birmingham. The recent announcement that Virgin Trains will operate one weekday train direct to and from Wrexham, facilitating arrival in London for around 10 a.m., coupled with the Wrexham and Shropshire service due to start in the Spring of 2008 will further enhance journey opportunities.

10.2. It is also important to ensure that the County Borough's stations benefit from robust connections to the West Coast mainline, specifically for North of England and Scotland destinations wherever possible. The announcement that Virgin Trains will operate hourly to Chester from London in 2009 is clearly good news. Wrexham Council wishes to see robust connections within the Wales & Borders Arriva Trains Wales franchise at Chester to meet these enhanced Virgin services. It would also be advantageous to have attractive links to the Manchester-bound trains at Chester to enable robust links to Warrington Bank Quay as an additional means of accessing the West Coast services.

10.3. Wrexham wishes to see improved rail access to airports as a further step towards integrated transport solutions. Connections to Birmingham International could be possible by extending the Chester - Birmingham New Street rail services, whilst access to Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester Airports are more difficult to achieve by direct services, within the confines of the existing rail network.

10.4. Car park capacity and bus/rail connectivity at stations is a critically important issue. The County Borough has been successful in negotiating arrangements with local bus operators to serve Ruabon station; negotiations are underway to enhance the number of services calling there and also to improve connectivity to Chirk station. A feasibility study in how best to serve Wrexham General Station with bus services is scheduled for 2008/09. In terms of car park capacity, Wrexham General station car park is full by early / mid morning, the recently developed facility at Ruabon is now full and Chirk is close to capacity, whilst Gwersyllt station remains relatively free. It is imperative that plans are progressed to maximise the car parking capacity of our stations to further enhance the potential for modal shift.

10.5. There are limited opportunities to attract commuters to the Borderlands line at Wrexham stations and Gwersyllt, with the existing service not entirely lending itself to timely arrivals at Wrexham, Deeside or Liverpool. Clearly it is important that these constraints are addressed to maximise the opportunity and attractiveness of rail services, particularly for medium to long range travel.

10.6. The existing timetable on the Wrexham - Bidston (Borderlands) rail corridor is restrictive; its relatively late start is not conducive with substantial modal shift, particularly for access to Wrexham, Deeside Industrial Park and Liverpool. Wrexham Council would like to see an earlier journey to facilitate improved access and make the corridor more attractive to commuters. It would also be beneficial to trial a half hourly diesel service between Wrexham and Bidston to measure what impact this would have on level of travel.

10.7. The re-opening of the Halton Curve section of track to more rail traffic, recently the subject of a GRIP3 Network Rail study, could facilitate direct services from North Wales to Liverpool John Lennon airport. Wrexham County Borough Council are firmly in favour of this scheme progressing.

11 Concessionary Travel

11.1 The Wrexham area as well as North Wales and the Principality have enhanced sustainable travel by WAG's introduction of the Welsh (Bus) Concessionary Travel Scheme, affording free travel to the over-60's and certain disabled residents pan-Wales. The imminent introduction of similar schemes in England will further encourage sustainable journeys by the qualifying populations. Wrexham would like to see the parallel development of both schemes to maximise the attractiveness of cross-border local bus travel.

11.2 Wrexham County Borough Council would also wish to see an extension of the Welsh (Bus) Concessionary Travel Scheme to the Borderlands (Wrexham - Bidston) rail corridor; further enhancing the opportunities for sustainable service use, particularly given that there are only infrequent local bus alternatives to the rail corridor.

12 Future Growth

The economic Sub-Region of the Mersey Dee Alliance area has several large-scale schemes either in build, on-going or at an advanced stage of development. These include;

Ø Eagles Meadow, Wrexham (400,000 sq ft mixed use development - opens October 2008)

Ø Western Gateway, Wrexham (an evolutionary and sustainable business park development)

Ø Warren Hall, Flintshire

Ø Broughton Retail Park expansion

Ø Northern Gateway (Deeside Industrial Estate)

Ø Twelve Quays, Birkenhead

Ø Liverpool City Centre Regeneration

Wrexham County Borough Council wishes to support the exploration of any sustainable solutions which minimise the affect of these and other developments to the fullest extent. Enhancements to passenger transport networks and infrastructure are seen as key contributors to this end. It is essential that appropriate planning tools and funding regimes are maintained to maximise the sustainability, particularly in transportation, of the wider region.

20 March 2008