TfW will continue to languish at the bottom of the table
The Office for Rail and Road (ORR) has published their most recent rail passenger figures which show that Transport for Wales (TfW) is operating at 67% of pre-pandemic levels – putting them firmly in the bottom half of rail operators. Some operators, such as UK government-owned LNER are operating at above pre-pandemic level at 111%.
Shadow Transport Minister
Commenting on the data Welsh Conservative Shadow Transport Minister, Natasha Asghar MS said:
“This latest data is of course disappointing but shows that the Labour Government’s stick approach to getting people back onto public transport isn’t working.
“Instead of using innovative initiatives to promote sustainable travel, the Labour Government attack commuters who have no choice but to drive by banning new road building and their plans to introduce road tolls and forcing people to pay to park at their workplace.
“But this isn’t just about commuting, TfW are the rail operator directly responsible for linking Wales with key UK economic hubs such as Manchester and Birmingham, the post-pandemic recovery of TfW is essential to ensure Wales’ economic rebound. Getting passengers to return to the railways will also begin to reduce the subsidy they have required, providing better value for taxpayers as passenger revenue increases.
Restore passenger numbers
“To restore passenger numbers, the first step must be to provide reliable services with suitable rolling stock—an area where TfW has faced difficulties in recent months. Without this crucial improvement, Labour-run TfW will continue to languish at the bottom of the table in terms of passenger recovery figures among UK rail operators.”
