Cardiff Central Station

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Paul Maynard)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the first time, Mr Bone. It is my first time speaking as a Minister in Westminster Hall. I find it hard to believe that it has taken until now for rail issues to be brought to this Chamber since I was appointed, but here we are, and I will do my best.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff North (Craig Williams) on securing the debate. He set out his ideas and a compelling vision for Wales’s capital city, Cardiff, including the future role it can play and the part its station will have in the city’s development. I fully appreciate the importance of Cardiff and the station to the vision for Wales. The UK Government have already shown their commitment to the station by funding an additional platform and more capacity at the station in recent years. Network Rail is investing more than £300 million through the Cardiff area signalling renewal project. The majority of that investment is focused in and around the Cardiff Central station area and between Queen Street and the Canton depot. We have also provided additional enhancement funding of £27 million to support capacity, including the development of a new platform at Cardiff Central, which will be brought into use this Christmas.

I noted my hon. Friend’s comments regarding the lessons learned from the rugby world cup. I too looked at the Enterprise and Business Committee’s report published by the Welsh Assembly, and I noted the problems with the first three matches and the ensuing queueing that then occurred. I gather that lessons were learned promptly and urgently and improvements were made for subsequent games. A larger gate line has been installed to enable improved passenger flows, for example, along with the new ticket office and a passenger waiting room on platform 8. That has been achieved by moving the old crew accommodation out of the station into a new modular building off platform 8. The new platform will be commissioned over the Christmas and new year period, and I hope that it will make a positive improvement.

We recognise that there will be a significant uplift in passenger capacity, but demand will still increase, as was pointed out, until 2043. We are currently undergoing testing and validating with colleagues from Network Rail on what the pace of the growth will be, when it will occur and what demand will be placed on Cardiff Central station. We hope to provide better and more reliable journeys into and out of the station, allowing it to accommodate the forecast growth for some time to come.

[Stephen Doughty]

I note what the Minister has said about growth, but it is not only growth in the city centre that is crucial to the project. I have long argued for the reopening of stations throughout the east of the city in places such as Rumney, Splott and St Mellons. Expanding capacity in Cardiff Central is crucial to that. Will the Minister look at that with Network Rail as part of a wider strategy for enhancing transport in that area?

[Paul Maynard]

I very much welcome what the hon. Gentleman says. Plans are ongoing to improve the service on the Valley Metro lines and to increase devolution to the Welsh Government over how they configure plans for the future. We are currently waiting for the initial industry advice as to what the priorities are for both the Welsh Government and Network Rail in the Wales area. Once we have that industry advice and the key asks with regard to Wales, we can then start to work out what our priorities are for control period 6. The hon. Gentleman has made his point and I am sure my officials have heard it, as will Network Rail, and we will be in touch.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff North mentioned, we are investing heavily in new trains across the network. We will be replacing the ageing high speed trains on the Great Western and south Wales main lines with a new fleet of bi-mode intercity express trains. These will offer more seats and up to 40% more capacity during peak times into Paddington, and will be reducing journey times from south Wales to London by about 15 minutes as electrification progresses. Bi-mode trains are capable of meeting the existing line speeds in south Wales, but will also provide more leg and luggage space to enable a better ride for passengers. They will enable us to markedly increase capacity to meet forecast growth on this inter-city route, with improved service reliability and reduced environmental impact. The electrification of the Great Western mainline will bring direct benefits for Wales, as will our provision of £125 million towards the cost of the valley lines electrification.

[Kevin Brennan]

I have looked at the Minister’s written statement. Can he confirm that it will have no impact whatever or cause any delay to the electrification that he has just mentioned?

--- Later in debate ---

[Paul Maynard]

I noted the hon. Gentleman’s great efforts to try to find the written statement on his mobile phone, and I congratulate him on doing that so adroitly. I am happy to confirm that my focus is on making sure that we deliver electrification to Cardiff on time, and we will make sure that passengers in south Wales benefit to the fullest degree possible. We are also investing in schemes such as the western rail link to Heathrow, which will also benefit passengers in Wales. Such improvements should all make south Wales a more attractive place for businesses to locate and for tourism to thrive.

However, we know that Cardiff Central is the busiest station in Wales. That is borne out in the recently published Network Rail Welsh route study, which forecasts that the number of passengers using Cardiff Central station could grow from 13 million in 2013 to as many as 32 million by 2043. Meeting such growth will bring further challenges. That is why the rail industry introduced a long-term planning process designed to plan the long-term capability of the network up to 30 years into the future. The Welsh route study looked at demand and capability for the period up to 2043, with particular emphasis on the next rail funding period from 2019. It made it clear that by 2024, passengers at Cardiff Central will experience higher levels of congestion around the platform, subway and stairs at peak times and that queues could form when trains are delayed. It identified a case for further platform and capacity improvements and concluded that the need for wider regeneration in the city supports the redevelopment of Cardiff Central station as a choice for funders in the next funding period from 2019. We will look closely at that initial industry advice when it comes shortly. The rail industry will present its advice to help us understand how to meet forecast demand, and it will of course include options that affect Wales.

We will continue to engage with the Welsh Government to understand their priorities for the future, and Network Rail has started to identify schemes that it thinks should be considered for development. I am pleased to note that Network Rail is working closely with City of Cardiff Council and developers to align its plans with the already committed investment plans for the enterprise zone, including those for Central Square at the front of the station. Although there are clearly issues that need to be addressed at the station, the redevelopment scheme suggested in the route study is designed as a stimulus to wider local economic growth, rather than to facilitate forecast rail passenger growth, so we would expect other beneficiaries to contribute towards achieving those goals.

In addition, stations are designed to meet a specific rail need, not those arising from special events. I hope that all those involved in event planning in the city will consider the specific arrangements they need to make to handle their customers as they travel to and from the venue. It is imperative that City of Cardiff Council, the Welsh Government, local authorities and local developers work with Network Rail and through the framework set out in the capital region city deal to identify further sources of funding for the wider plans to redevelop the station and the adjacent area, in a similar fashion to the joint contribution made by Birmingham City Council and the west midlands authorities towards the redevelopment of Birmingham New Street station. I am told that those who attended our party conference last month saw that it was a great success and an attractive and pleasant station to be in.

The capital region city deal, signed in March this year, will provide £1.2 billion in infrastructure investment, of which the UK Government have contributed £500 million. It sets out delivery of the south Wales metro, including the valley lines electrification programme, as a key priority. Specifically, it has provided local partners with the powers and resources needed to unlock significant economic growth across the Cardiff capital region.

Transport for Wales has been established by the Welsh Government to help deliver the new franchise and the next phase of the metro project. We welcome the shortlist of companies that have successfully pre-qualified to bid in the competition. It is positive news both for Welsh passengers and for those in the English borders region. We will continue to work constructively with the Welsh Government and with Transport for Wales to make sure that the franchise delivers for passengers. We are pleased that we have reached agreement in principle on arrangements to ensure that suitable cross-border links are maintained and developed in co-operation between the Secretary of State for Transport and Welsh Ministers.

We are obviously seeing growth through the first phase of the metro. It has led to improvements including Ebbw Vale Town station, which has already seen some 800,000 journeys annually. My hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff North mentioned the development at Newport, including the new station at Pye Corner, which demonstrates that there is a demand for new stations, and we have schemes in place that can enable them. Phase 2 will follow. The Department for Transport will continue to support the Welsh Government in their procurement for the franchise, as well as the infrastructure proposals that Transport for Wales is still evolving, but we know that some of their plans for a mix of light and heavy rail on the metro lines will have an impact on both Cardiff Central and Queen Street stations and will have to be taken into account.

In conclusion, I hope my hon. Friend will be reassured that the Government remain committed to improving rail services not only in Wales in general, but in Cardiff in particular. We still look to the Welsh Government and City of Cardiff Council to continue to play their co-operative role in developing the plans, and I am sure my hon. Friend will join me in looking forward to the first of the changes over Christmas and new year when platform 8 is opened. I am sure he will have an opportunity to make use of it sooner than I will. I thank him for his time today.

Question put and agreed to.