Media centre

Monday 3 Apr 2017

Wales runs on rail: New figures show the full extent of the rail industry’s contribution to Wales

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

• Network Rail supports around 2,108 local jobs in Wales and the Welsh borders and last year £33.3 million was spent with 87 local businesses
• Arriva Trains Wales has committed more than £31 million to date to help enhance the passenger experience on the railway in Wales and the Welsh borders.
• £100 million spent every single week by Network Rail on improving the railway in Britain

The rail industry, including Network Rail and Arriva Trains Wales, are working together to deliver a record £50 billion plus investment in Britain’s railway. This investment supports jobs and growth. It also drives development, re-generation and unlocks housing supply.

Andy Thomas, route managing director for Network Rail Wales, said: “The railway is vital to economic growth. That’s why Network Rail is spending £100 million every week in Britain on our Railway Upgrade Plan.

“Here in Wales, we are spending £387 million every year to provide a safe, reliable railway for the growing number of passengers and supporting more than 2,000 jobs across Wales and the Welsh borders.

"A great example of this plan in action is the Cardiff Area Signalling Renewals Scheme, which has unlocked the potential for more trains into the heart of our capital city and has also seen an increase in operational resilience and our capacity to recover when incidents arise; providing commuters and tourists to Wales with better, more reliable services.”

The Cardiff Area Signalling Renewals (CASR) project is a £300m renewal and enhancement scheme that includes the largest signalling phase of its kind ever commissioned on the rail network.

As part of this project Network Rail has replaced outdated signalling with state of the art technology, upgraded the track layout at key points on the Cardiff and Valleys network, and delivered new platforms and improved stations.

Lynne Milligan, customer services director for Arriva Trains Wales said: “The future of rail travel looks bright in Wales thanks to a number of exciting announcements.

“Last week we announced an extra 600 seats per day on our busiest trains into Cardiff Central, largely thanks to the great work on CASR and Platform 8 by our partners in Network Rail. We have also completed phase one of our Wifi roll out on our 150s, 158s and 175s and are moving on to the next phase thanks to support from the Department for Transport and Welsh Government.

“Despite our franchise only requiring an investment of £400,000 we have committed more than £31 million to date and this year alone we are contributing a further £2.8 million to help make the passenger experience of the Welsh railway network even better.”

The delivery of record, £50billion plus investment in Britain’s railway is being showcased as part of a public awareness drive known as Britain Runs on Rail, which aims to increase understanding among taxpayers and passengers about how their money is being spent to improve the railway. Britain Runs on Rail is organised by the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail.

Notes to editors:

• Across Wales, Network Rail supports 2,108 local jobs with 1,558 people directly employed and a further 550 jobs in our supply chain.
• In Wales, Network Rail spends £387 million annually on operations, maintenance, renewals and enhancements to provide a safe, reliable railway.
• Across Britain, Network Rail supports an estimated 54,350 jobs with 36,000 people directly employed and a further 117,750 jobs in our supply chain.
• During 2015/16, Network Rail spent £7 billion with 3,435 companies across Great Britain, 2500 of which were small or medium enterprises.
• 99% of our Railway Upgrade Plan work is being undertaken by UK-based companies.
• Every day, more than 4.5 million rail journeys are taken in Britain.
• For more information about how rail is vital to economic growth visit: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/jobs-and-growth/
• For more information about Arriva Trains Wales visit: https://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/OurCompany/