Stakeholder complexity hinders North Wales Main Line electrification

Chester station should be re-modelled to increase capacity as the first in a three-step approach to electrify the North Wales Main Line, reports the North Wales Transport Commission.

However, investigations by RAIL have revealed that no one is leading either project. And with the Welsh Government signalling its lukewarm interest in the schemes, there is rising concern about ‘project drift’.

It also shines a light on complex structure, especially around Chester, with stakeholders including train operators, Network Rail, the Welsh Government, Liverpool City Region, Transport for the North, Network North, and Great British Railways Transition Team.

Established in March 2022 by the Welsh Government, the NWTC was created to provide recommendations to “realise a sustainable integrated and multi- modal transport system in North Wales”.

Publishing its final report covering all transport modes, NWTC says the North Wales Main Line (NWML) and its interchanges are “critical” to rail in the region. It sets out multiple “interventions” that are “necessary as steps to reach the goal of electrification”.

Owing to the line’s role linking communities along the coast, NWTC recommends that proposals are developed to provide an electric service frequency of five trains per hour, including one express service.

However, it cautions that to achieve this level of service and shorter journey times, “barriers need to be overcome along the length of the route”.

Chester station is identified as a restriction for NWML services and adjoining lines, including Shrewsbury-Wrexham-Chester. A capacity increase scheme is required “ahead of electrification”, says NWTC.

NWTC said the cost of delivering the Chester capacity improvements would be in the region of £90 million to £160m.

Read more about NWTC's proposals in RAIL 1003, on-sale February 21 2024.