Natalie Rees is the Head of Sustainable Development and Climate Change at Transport for Wales, where her role is to embed the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act and the Environment Act into the organisation. A Chartered Environmentalist with over 20 years’ experience working cross sector in the field of sustainable development, Natalie manages the Climate Change, Sustainable Development Programmes, Heritage, Energy, Environment and Ecology functions.
In her opening keynote at TRANSPORT Smart Class, Wales & West of England 2024, Natalie explained how Transport for Wales is aiming to enable sustainable integrated travel which not only benefits society but also improves prosperity and the environment, and contributes to strengthening culture in line with the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
Utilising her experience at TfW over the past 5 years, Natalie’s presentation highlighted the many benefits already seen, including the electrification of the core valleys lines and increasing services across Wales, but also the many community projects and opportunities that have run alongside the infrastructure works.
Summary of presentation highlights:
- Introducing TfW – A not-for-profit company owned and set up by the Welsh Government to oversee public transport in Wales and the Borders, and invest in rail, bus and active travel provision across Wales;
- TfW’s vision – To create customer focused services through a safe transport network of which Wales is proud;
- TfW’s purpose – To provide sustainable transport services that keep Wales moving…”Creating an integrated transport network fit for the future, one that contributes to the long-term sustainability of Wales and of those communities connected to us, to help achieve the seven well-being goals of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015;
- Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 – Helps TfW think about the long-term impact of their decisions, to work better with people, communities and each other, and to prevent persistent problems such as poverty, health inequalities and climate change; Well-being goals include: 1) A healthier Wales 2) A more equal Wales 3) A more resilient Wales 4) A globally responsible Wales 5) A Wales of a thriving Welsh language and culture 6) A Wales of cohesive communities 7) A more prosperous Wales;
- Llwybr Newydd (The Welsh Transport Strategy) priorities – 1) Bring services to people in order to reduce the need to travel 2) Allow people and goods to move easily from door to door by accessible, sustainable and efficient transport services and infrastructure 3) Encourage people to make the change to more sustainable transport;
- An update on the South Wales Metro…
- Metro will deliver – Electrification of the Merthyr, Aberdare, Treherbert and Rhymney lines, approx. 170km of track; Building 2 new stations – Bute Town & Crwys Road; Upgrading stations and track; Brand new electric trains, including tram-trains;
- What does this mean for customers? Increased frequency of services in most areas of the network; Quicker journey times; Greater capacity; Smart ticketing options – Pay As You Go; Improved accessibility due to level boarding; Better connection between transport modes;
- Applying the learning picked up on the TAM to inform TfW’s approach to the Rhymney line;
- Journeys to/from Cardiff – Current service frequencies on CVL; Planned service increase with Metro;
- Electrification…
- Why electrify? Electrification brings lots of benefits, including lower emissions, decreased operating costs and allowing introduction of more reliable services and rolling stock;
- What has been electrified so far? 1) Pontypridd to Cardiff, including the City Line – electrified in June 2023 2) Merthyr line – electrified in October 2023 3) Aberdare line – electrified in October 2023 4) Treherbert line – electrified in May 2024 5) Rhymney line South of Caerphilly, Coryton and Cardiff Bay – due February 2025 6) Rhymney to Caerphilly – due late 2025;
- Taff’s Well depot & station – Progressing well and staff will move into the building over next few months, ready for the tram-trains to enter service in 2025;
- Cardiff Bay – Significant transformation works are being carried out to deliver: A second platform at Cardiff Bay station; New CCTV, lighting, CIS, help points and a new Southern entrance; New Butetown station with 2 platforms; New Section of double track from Butetown station to Cardiff Bay station; New signaling;
- June 2024 timetable change – The first major change in Valley line timetables in over 30 years, carried out as TfW prepare to increase the frequency of services and introduce brand new trains; Introducing the new timetable allowed TfW to offer some of the key benefits of Metro to their customers straight away e.g. Increase from 6 to 8 trains from Pontypridd to Cardiff; Increase from to 6 trains an hour from Cardiff to Caerphilly; Increase from 1 to 2 trains per hour from Rhymney to Cardiff; New direct service between Pontypridd and Cardiff Bay; For Vale of Glamorgan, TfW’s 231 4 car trains can run down to Barry/Barry Island/Bridgend for the first time, until they are replaced by the 756 tri-mode trains in late 2025;
- Introduction of New Metro vehicles – The first two brand-new Class 756 tri mode trains were successfully introduced onto the Merthyr and Aberdare lines on November 22nd 2024; Following completion of essential work, they will be introduced onto the Treherbert line in early 2025; In total, all 14 brand-new Class 756s will be introduced onto these lines by Spring 2025; They will continue to run on these lines until the Tram-Trains are introduced in 2025; Once all tram-trains have entered service, they will be introduced onto the Coryton/Caerphilly to Penarth lines in early 2025, moving to the Rhymney line in 2026; Fully electric Class 398 tram-trains are currently in testing and will be introduced onto the Merthyr, Treherbert and Aberdare lines from 2025, replacing the Class 150/153 trains;
- Behaviour Change…
- TfW will encourage people to change their travel behaviour to use low-carbon, sustainable transport. They will do this by making sustainable transport more attractive and more affordable, and by adopting innovations that make it easier to use. TfW will:
- Develop a range of behaviour-change projects to encourage people to make sustainable travel choices;
- Enhance the customer experience of public transport including reliability, punctuality and training for staff and drivers, so people are more confident about using services;
- Transform the image of walking, cycling and public transport through education, campaigning, marketing and other tools;
- Support digital innovation to improve journey planning and booking, develop integrated ticketing, and improve real-time information for travellers;
- Sustainable Impact…
- Since 2021, TfW have delivered 2 x £100k grant-funded projects and 70 pan-Wales and borders co-designed and co-produced impact projects with 74 partners. Delivered lasting impacts and benefits:
- Created and enhanced 25 community green spaces and 8 new woodland sites improving access to green space and supporting physical and mental health and well-being in communities;
- Over 350 green features at stations to support biodiversity and social well-being supporting confidence to travel, reducing loneliness and social isolation;
- 337 volunteers contributing over 2,500 volunteer hours with new and additional volunteer opportunities created and peer learning and upskilling;
- Over 80% of all impact spent in local economies and station neighbourhood areas, supporting local skills and businesses;
- Over 100 community events and activities delivered with 1,600 people attending;
- Co-delivery partnership model;
- Case Study – Cynon Valley Organic Adventures (CVOA)/Abercynon;
- Sustainable impact programme opportunities, challenges, and next steps
If you meet our regular delegate qualification criteria but were unable to join us at Cardiff Masonic Hall for the live in-person event on December 5th, CLICK HERE and complete the short “Download form” (located at the bottom of the post) to receive a unique link enabling free access to the presentation video recordings and slides (including the film footage and slides from Natalie’s keynote).
Those qualifying to receive the rich presentation content from this event include commissioning, procurement, trialling, partnering and policy leads, senior influencers, strategic decision makers, programme managers and planners from local authorities (e.g. city, borough, metropolitan, district and county councils); public transport operators; regional transport partnerships, sub-regional transport bodies, combined authorities, integrated transport authorities and passenger transport executives; highways authorities and road operators; government and supporting national transport agencies; non-governmental organisations; fleet operators, parking operators, prime contractors etc.
