Presiding Officer Dafydd Elis-Thomas meets Carno campaigners

A petition to reopen Carno train station in Powys has become one of the first received at the Welsh assembly since it acquired new powers. Campaigners and AMs presented nearly 800 signatures to Presiding Officer Dafydd Elis-Thomas for consideration on Tuesday June 12th.

The petition is expected to appear on the assembly website and be sent to the transport minister for a response. The campaigners said they were “fairly confident” the new system would help their “tremendously good case” succeed.

Carno Station Action Group chairman Tony Burton said he expected the assembly’s new procedures would help ensure the petition did not simply gather dust. “We think we’ve got a tremendously good case because we’re on the longest stretch of line without a station in the whole of Wales – 22 miles,” he said. “Trains currently stop out in the country at Talerddig to pass each other without taking passengers on or off,” he added.

The group wants the passing loop on the rail network moved to Carno to allow passengers to board. It said Network Rail had indicated the extra cost would be a relatively modest £100,000.

The campaigners believe the station would both help get people out of their cars and boost the economy of an area which has suffered since the closure of the Laura Ashley factory in the village three years ago.

 

‘Way of engaging’

Lord Elis-Thomas is launching a public consultation to help find the best way of making the new petitions system work effectively.

He told the Carno station campaigners that he wanted to ensure “that there is an outcome (from petitions): you don’t just send something”.

Montgomeryshire Liberal Democrat AM Mick Bates said he was very excited by the opportunities the new petitions process could offer. “They can then see what actions the politicians here take about their petition, and that’s brilliant”

“We have a real way of engaging with people in Wales who can now petition the assembly and they can then see what actions the politicians here take about their petition, and that’s brilliant,” he added.

The photograph below shows AM Mick Bates presenting the petition to Lord Elis-Thomas. Click on it to see an enlarged version.

 

Petition details

The petition is worded as follows:

We call upon the Welsh Assembly Government to re-open Carno Station and end the wasteful practice of stopping trains outside Talerddig with no passenger benefit.

Yr ydym yn galw ar Lywodraeth Cynnulliad Cymru i ail-agor Gorsaf Reilffordd Carno a dod a’r arfer gwastrafflyd ac anfuddiol i deithwyr o atal trenau y tuallan i Dalerddig i ben

A six person delegation , including the Chairman and Vice Chair of Carno Community Council, travelled from Carno to hand over the 781 signature petition to the Presiding Officer, and Montgomeryshire AM Mick Bates was joined by Mid and West Wales AM’s Joyce Davies (Lab) and Alan Davies (Lab).

More photographs of the event

(click on each to enlarge)

 

 

 

 

Carno Station Action Group

PRESS RELEASE

ALL ABOARD THE 1.25 TO SHREWSBURY!

Click on image for enlarged view!

Well over a hundred prospective passengers gathered at Carno station last Sunday morning to demonstrate the growing support for the station re-opening campaign. Nearly all trains currently stop at Talerddig to pass each other, but the Carno Station Action Group wants to see the passing place moved from Talerddig to Carno as part of the infrastructure changes for the new hourly service. This would enable the trains to serve the needs of the expanding local community when they stop to pass.

The Action Group has submitted a detailed case for the station re-opening to TraCC, Trafnidiaeth Canolbarth Cymru, the Mid Wales Transport Consortium, which has forwarded it to the Welsh Assembly Government Rail Unit. The report concludes:

• A re-opened Carno station would be a major benefit for a large, relatively remote village, which has seen and will continue to see significant population growth.
• The station would facilitate commuting to jobs further afield, including the new Welsh Assembly Government jobs in Aberystwyth, following the Laura Ashley factory closure.
• The station would promote social inclusion, by providing transport for the old, the young and others without their own car. This would reduce the need for “chauffeuring”.
• The station would encourage green tourism and expanded use of the community centre as a conference centre.
• The station would provide crucial environmental benefits by reducing car journeys for work, shopping and leisure purposes.
• There would be spin-off benefits from reduced congestion in Newtown.
• Re-opening of the station would be fully consistent with the Wales Spatial Plan
• The envisaged implementation of infrastructure improvements for the hourly service in conjunction with the installation of the ERTMS signalling system provides a vital opportunity to establish a passing loop at Carno in 2008. This in turn would enable trains to stop at a re-opened Carno station without imposing any time delay on the train service.

 

Ends.
Released April 22nd, 2007

Carno Station Action Group

PRESS RELEASE

CARNO STATION CAMPAIGN REJUVENATED

Over 60 Carno residents attended a lively public meeting in Carno on Wednesday April 4th and expressed firm support for the developing campaign to re-open Carno station.

After opening remarks by Alan Humphreys, Clerk to the Community Council, the chairman of the action group, Tony Burton, explained the unique opportunity to eliminate the Talerddig passing loop presented by the planned introduction of an hourly service on the line. All trains currently stop at this remote spot to pass each other, but the Network Rail feasibility study had shown that moving the passing loop to Carno would have negligible cost implications, as it would save 2 miles of new double track near Welshpool, where trains would also have to pass. Moving the loop to Carno would enable trains to serve a new station there without any time penalty to the tightly timed service.

The second speaker was Cllr Gwilym Evans, Chairman of TraCC, Trafnidiaeth Canolbarth Cymru, the recently formed Mid Wales Transport Consortium. Cllr Evans began by explaining TraCC’s role in planning highway and public transport development in Ceredigion, Gwynedd and Powys and described the work they had already done in setting up regular two-hourly bus services on the Brecon – Newtown and Shrewsbury – Llanidloes routes, which interconnect at Newtown. He set out TraCC’s aspirations for the hourly service on the Cambrian line and for improved connections between train and bus services – all of which would help to reduce road traffic growth.

Focussing on Carno station, he said he had been impressed by the strength of the Case for Re-opening submitted by the action group, and confirmed that TraCC will press for Carno’s case to be considered by the Welsh Assembly Government. He added that TraCC backed the repositioning of the existing Talerddig passing loop at Carno.

Mick Bates AM, the third speaker, started by looking at sustainability in relation to transport. The re-opening of Carno station would contribute to sustainability by helping to reduce traffic congestion and reducing CO2 emissions while promoting the local economy. He explained that the next few months were crucial in the campaign, because the Welsh Assembly Government would take a decision on the infrastructure for the hourly service in July or August. He recommended the action group act without delay to

• send a large petition to the Minister,
• write to all AM’s in Wales and
• set up a website

Then the group should send a delegation in May or June to press Carno’s case with the WAG Rail Team in Cardiff.

The meeting ended with a general discussion and a resolution to step up the campaign forthwith.

 

Ends.
Released April 6th, 2007