Service improvements to the Wrexham and Bidston line will be felt by both Transport for Wales and GB Railfreight, the Office of Rail and Road has announced.
An independent review was needed because both operators had applied for capacity that could not be accommodated together.
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Currently, an hourly Wrexham to Bidston service is operated by Transport for Wales, whilst GBRf use sections of track to serve Deeside and Avonmouth from Padeswood Cement Works.
Freight trains also serve Padeswood Cement Works and can now continue with better certainty thanks to a firm contractual base. Each freight train will remove around 36 HGVs from the roads.
Councillor David A Bithell deputy leader with responsibility for strategic transport said, “I welcome this news that the ORR has agreed to allow two trains an hour on the Wrexham to Bidston line.
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“This has long been an objective of Wrexham Council for a 30 minute service and supports our decarbonisation agenda. I will be pressing transport for wales for a start date.”
Stephanie Tobyn, Director of Strategy, Policy and Reform at ORR said: “We are pleased to have reached a decision that promotes passenger and freight growth in line with our duties through an increase in passenger services and placing the freight trains serving the cement works on a firm contractual basis.
“Our review of the applications identified areas where Network Rail needs to improve its management of granting access to the rail network. We will continue to monitor the Wales and Borders route on these issues.”
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