A Llanelli Town Councillor has met with Transport For Wales to raise residents concerns and call for improvements to station facilities and to services on the rail network.Sean Rees, Llanelli Town Councillor for the Glanymor Ward said:
“I would like to thank Transport for Wales for the opportunity to have a productive meeting which lasted for over 2 hours.
“At the heart of the discussions was the ongoing disruption as it is clearly not acceptable for rail fares to continue to increase while we are often having to cope with delays, overcrowded carriages and unacceptable conditions at our stations.
“I was very pleased however to hear that over £194 million pounds is now planned for station improvements across Wales and that Llanelli has been classified as a “Flagship Station” for part of this investment.
“The new franchise will now need to work hard to restore public confidence in their ability to provide the reliable and improved services as outlined in their franchise bid. At the heart of that must be ambition, vision and community engagement.
A lot of ground was covered during the meeting, some of the issues included:
Ensuring the two brand new waiting rooms and toilet facilities are open for longer periods.
Advancing station staffing and investment in CCTV to monitor inside the Railway Station and tackle any anti social problems.
Introducing further customer information screens, help points, improved lighting and signage, general maintenance and provision of disabled facilities.
Welcoming efforts of organisations who are drawing up some visual improvement plans including upgrading the garden opposite the Coffee Pot. Our community-led campaign will concentrate on this work further by continuing to focus on calling for service and infrastructure improvements.
Needing a greater frequency of services from and to West Wales, as currently the further west you go on the rail network, the worse it gets.
Integrating rail services with bus links to Town Centre and the proposed new Wellness + Life Science Village which should also include parts of our communities which currently have no access to public transport.
Developing a Community Partnership for West Wales. Organising a Community workshop event in Llanelli shortly to give residents a further opportunity to have their say.
Hugh Evans, Stakeholder Liaison Manager for Transport For Wales added:
“This was a really positive meeting with Councillor Rees and we look forward to working with all stakeholders and customers in and around Llanelli to deliver a rail service that the public will be proud of. We have a strong Community Rail element in our solution and this will be critical in helping us deliver our ambitious plans for now and the future”
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