Opinion
A Crossrail for Cardiff ? C
Following the positive decision to electrify the Valley lines,Mark Barry explores the potential of a Crossrail for Cardiff
ardiff is a growing city and one, according to its draft Local Development Plan, that needs to accommodate a further 60,000
people in the next 15 years. So, Cardiff, with a transport network designed for a city with less than 300,000 people needs tot develop a network for one with more than 400,000, at the heart of a city region of 1.4 million. The 2011 report A Metro for Wales’
Capital City Region – Connecting Cardiff, Newport and the Valleys, commissioned by the Cardiff Business Partnership and published by the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA), made the case for a major investment in the transport infrastructure of South East Wales to support long-term economic growth and regeneration. The Metro concept has, at its core and
as a first phase, the electrification of the South Wales valley lines. The concept envisaged that this core network would be extended across the region with heavy rail, tram-train and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
to provide a single ticket, turn up and go integrated transport network linking all the major communities and employment/ development locations across the region.
Valley Line electrification A welcome development therefore was last year’s approval by the Department for Transport of the electrification of the GWML to Swansea and the South Wales Valley Lines (VLE).
The VLE project will deliver a huge
shot in the arm for the Welsh economy and probably represents the most significant investment in Welsh rail infrastructure since the Severn Tunnel was opened. The benefits of what is in effect the
first phase of a South Wales Metro are clear; an electrified rail network is less costly to operate, more environmentally friendly and the enhanced connectivity between its major towns and cities will help the economy of the whole region. But this is just the start and a first step
in a series of transport infrastructure investments that must be used to help address the economic challenges facing both Cardiff and the wider City Region, as well as providing the catalyst for a range of transport enabled development projects.
The economic challenge Cardiff has a population of 346,000 (2011 Census data), within a wider Cardiff City Region population of more than 1.4 million. This is expected to grow significantly over the next 25 years. In parallel with this, to 2011 there was an increase of more than 30,000 (17 per cent) in Cardiff’s workplace employment from around 180,000 in 2001 (Stats Wales figures). This is more than 80 per cent of the net total increase for all of SE Wales. However, Cardiff’s GVA/capita is low
at only 91 per cent of the UK average. In fact when compared to other parts of the UK it seems the major economic challenge for SE Wales is as much to do with Cardiff’s underperformance as it is to
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