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THE SHREWSBURY - ABERYSTWYTH RAIL PASSENGERS' ASSOCIATION WELCOMES YOU TO THEIR WEBSITEThis page updated 5th March 2008 |
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SARPA is the local rail users group for the Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth
line
running from the English border through Montgomeryshire to the coast of
North
Ceredigion and ending up in the increasingly important University (and
Assembly administration
) town of
Aberystwyth. We exist to preserve and promote the line so that there is a
more sustainable
transport system for future generations. SARPA is one of the more active
rail
user groups in Wales and meets monthly. We are continually campaigning on
various issues from train times and frequency to station maintenance and
welcome any comments anybody has about the rail service in Mid Wales. We hope that during 2008, Arriva will continue to make efforts to improve their service quality, which still manages to fall below the standard required. |
CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE |
| Chairman's message First of all a big thank you to all SARPA members who have renewed their membership for 2008 (and the new ones to!). The messages of support that often accompany cheques are most welcome, and it seems the committee's efforts by both current and past members are appreciated by passengers at least! I've always said we're not here to win a popularity contest, and if we ruffle a few corporate feathers and upset a few people along the way that's OK as it's the end result that counts - representing the interest of passengers and campaigning for better services. Ivor Morris stepped down as Treasurer at our AGM last October. He was Treasurer when I became Chairman in February 1999 and for a couple of years prior to that. His contribution to SARPA and rail users in Mid Wales has been great and I can't thank him enough for all the hard work and support over the years. Wales is to have a transport strategy published this spring. The WAG Minister responsible for transport Deputy First Minster and leader of Plaid Cymru - Ieuan Wyn Jones has been heard making the right noises about encouraging more use of public transport, improved and integrated services. However we rail users have long memories about promises: remember John Prescott and the ten year plan? "I will have failed if in ten years time...." - that's right John you did fail. Rhetoric is cheap, a lesson for all politicians whatever their colour, it's results that count - you can't flannel forever and Prescott's legacy is his failed boast. I'm told the stakeholders in the TraCC area (mainly County, Town and Community Councillors) are all squabbling like cats in a sack as to what should be spent in the TraCC area's Transport Plan. All putting forward their parochial road schemes failing to see beyond the end of their own car bonnets. Investing in the Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth line is actually a strategic measure in this context as it covers a large part of the TraCC area including its largest two towns, and will bring benefits to all three local authority areas and improve links to where Mid Wales economy is tied to - the West Midlands. Frighteningly simple: an hourly service on our line is the best strategic deal on the cards for Mid Wales transport and ironically one of the cheapest options also. A real strategy has to take into account the wider picture, not narrow sectional interests. Reforming the fares system across Wales would be a good start in addition to a few genuine expresses between North and South Wales for WAG to make. ATW is not a commercial operation in the true sense as it's heavily dependent on public subsidy of £140 million a year which is roughly 60% of its income. Taxpayers' money has to be seen to be value for money. Paying a private sector company that sort of cash and then finding that taxpayers then pay wildly fluctuating rates to travel per mile depending on where they live and what line their on is simply not on. There is no commercial justification as ATW would not make a penny profit if it were not for their subsidy. The fares structure in Wales certainly does not fit a "one Wales" agenda. Passengers on the same train can pay anything from 9p per mile to 45p per mile: its crazy. There should be a flat rate of cost per mile travelled applicable to all Welsh rail services. Gareth Marston, Newtown, January 2008. |
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Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth Rail Passengers Association (SARPA) 64 Churchill Drive, Barnfields, Newtown, Powys, SY16 2LH, Wales, United Kingdom © SARPA 2005-2008 All Rights Reserved Website:- Angus Eickhoff |