Ambitious plans to transform public transport in North Wales will help people like a young woman who faces a nightmare four hour daily commute to work<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the vow from Ken Skates MS, Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, ahead of a meeting with business leaders in Wrexham.<\/p>\n
Mr Skates, who is also the Senedd member for Clwyd South, will be outlining details of the Network North Wales proposals at a breakfast meeting of Wrexham Business Professionals at the city\u2019s Maesgwyn Hall on Friday, June 27.<\/p>\n
According to Mr Skates far too many young people are being \u201ccut out of the jobs market\u201d because they can\u2019t access reliable transport to the workplace.<\/p>\n
He said the Welsh Government\u2019s vision for an integrated, high-frequency transport system will drive economic growth in the region and provide key bus\u00a0services to centres of employment.<\/p>\n
The problem was flagged up at a Wrexham Business Professionals meeting in July last year.<\/p>\n
Rachel Clacher, co-founder of Moneypenny, the UK\u2019s leading provider of telephone and web-based communications for businesses, told that meeting that she had come across numerous examples of public transport failing to meet the needs of employers and employees.<\/p>\n
She highlighted the plight of a young\u00a0Gwersyllt woman who spent four hours travelling the eight miles to and from her work at Wrexham Industrial Estate each day because bus services were infrequent and were badly linked.<\/p>\n
Mr Skates said: \u201cNetwork North Wales is going to address that very concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are still a huge number of job offers that are being rejected by young people, by people of all ages in fact, because they can\u2019t get public transport to and from their workplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are far too many businesses that still tell me that bus services are\u00a0few and far between.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, there are going to be a number of major interventions that form part of Network North Wales.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to be introducing new legislation to regulate the bus network, so we will be redesigning the bus network to help people in and out of work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to be utilising the status of Flintshire and Wrexham as an Investment Zone to roll out a really ambitious new bus network which will better link communities with centres of employment like Wrexham Industrial Estate and Deeside Industrial Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve worked very closely with Transport for Wales, Flintshire Council and Wrexham Council, to develop this bespoke bus network for the Investment Zone which will better connect people with centres of employment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Skates said he wanted to get to a point where public transport, or the lack of it, didn\u2019t prevent anybody from securing, and keeping, a job.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cPublic transport\u00a0isn\u2019t just about moving people from A to B, it\u2019s about generating growth, it\u2019s about dealing with economic inactivity and economic inequality.<\/p>\n
\u201cPublic transport, in my view, is the third public service and so it must meet the requirements of all people.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, through Network North Wales we will be better connecting people with employment \u2013 that\u2019s the primary purpose of creating a 21st century metro-type, transport service across this region.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to see pretty immediate movement on it as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to see a 50 per cent increase in rail services across North Wales from next May, we\u2019re going to see a doubling of rail services between Wrexham and Chester from next May.<\/p>\n
\u201cWork will be\u00a0commencing on the Wrexham to Liverpool line to eventually make that a direct service into Liverpool with metro-type services providing four trains an hour, that\u2019s the ambition in the next 10 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s going to be a huge amount of movement over the coming months.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople will see re-wrapped trains between Wrexham and Bidston, reflecting the communities those services serve.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be an increased frequency on rail routes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to be upgrading the stations,\u00a0and of course, as I\u2019ve said, we going to be rolling out that employment bus network which is going to be vital.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom September we are going to be rolling out a\u00a0young people\u2019s bus deal which means that 16 to 21-year-olds won\u2019t have to pay more than \u00a31 for a bus journey in Wales.<\/p>\n
Mr Skates commended the work of the Wrexham Business Professionals organisation, a group made up of successful businesses and skilled professionals working together to promote regional prosperity and shine a light on the enterprise and expertise that exists in the region.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThere is something\u00a0really magical happening in Wrexham at the moment, but the Wrexham Business Professionals have been solid supporters of the community for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ian Edwards, a leading member of the group, welcomed the news and said a redesign of the city\u2019s public transport set-up was badly needed to help employers and employees.<\/p>\n
He said:\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019ve all heard the stories of people not being able to get to Wrexham Industrial Estate and things needs to change.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the public transport system to work and to serve the industrial estate properly, it can\u2019t just be one bus an hour, that won\u2019t work for anybody.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bus services need to be frequent,\u00a0reliable and comfortable.<\/p>\n
Louise Harper, from Wrexham Business Professionals, said: \u201cThe meeting on June 27 will give a\u00a0useful insight into the benefits the Network North Wales programme will deliver for businesses and their workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would encourage business leaders to come along to find out more about this exciting transport project.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other guest speakers at the meeting at Wrexham\u2019s Maesgwyn Hall, starting at 8.30am on Friday, June 27, include Laura Hall, managing director of Holt-based Maverick Diagnostics, and Amanda Davies from Wrexham Council, who is leading Wrexham\u2019s bid to be named UK City of Culture 2029.<\/p>\n