Action group calling on rail franchise bidders to re-open village station
An action group battling to re-open their village train station want to speak with potential rail franchisees about their plans.
Carno Station Action Group have been urging the authorities to open the station once again since they were set up in 2002, after it was closed during the beeching cuts in 1965.
The group have gone down a number of different avenues to re-open the station, and now are calling on the four bidders for the new Wales Rail Franchise to take notice.
The four bidders for the franchise, which will begin running rail services from 2018, are Abellio Rail Cymru, Arriva Rail Wales, KeolisAmey, and MTR Corporation.
Each bidder is now locked in dialogue in the bidding process on different improvements to timetables, rolling stock and stations.
The action group are holding a meeting with each bidder to get them to back their cause.
Chair Jeremy Barnes said: "This series of meetings provides us with an excellent opportunity to make the case for the station and to explain our proposals to the bidders.
"They clearly recognise the benefits of making the rail network accessible to a wider population.”
In recent years it seemed the action group were making progress, as in 2009 the Welsh Assembly agreed to examine the proposals.
It became more promising in 2014, when Arriva Trains Wales and Network Rail agreed with the case for re-opening the station, however a new station would be needed as the original was a Victorian Building.
Then just last year, the transport minister Edwina Hart said both organisations agreed with a report in favour of re-opening.
However the plans have hit an snag, after Minister for Economy Ken Skates wrote to all members, setting out a shortlist of new stations, with Bow Street the only one in Mid Wales.
The action group have been left 'bewildered', as their business case was developed 10 years ago, and they seemed to have been leapfrogged.
The group set out their concerns to members, emphasising the local support for the re-opening, and calling for the government's initial assessment of new station proposals to be made public.
Mr Barnes added: "Clearly we need to know the weighting of the criteria used in the assessment process and their scores in order to see whether they are compatible with the 2014 Business Case.
"The scorings need to be made public for all the stations considered, in the interests of transparency.
"As the First Minister has said, it’s hugely important that the cost-benefit analysis is shared so that people can see what the methodology is.”
Mr Barnes also expressed surprise that grassroots support was not one of the criteria used in the shortlisting process and added, “Doesn’t this indicate a top down rather than bottom up approach?”
Montgomeryshire AM Russell George has now called for an urgent meeting with Mr Skates and the chair of the Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth Railway Liaison Committee.
