Rail line chaos

Network Rail really do need to account for the massive disruption being experienced by passengers on the Cardiff to Swansea line due to the overrun of engineering works to test a new signalling system.

The line will now be closed for the rest of the week, with services replaced by buses, despite the deadline for work to be completed expiring on Easter Monday.

As a regular traveller on the line, I appreciate the need for improvements to be made to the infrastructure but the patience of passengers is being sorely tested with the announcement that services are to be disrupted until the weekend when they were originally told that things would be back to normal by Tuesday at the latest.

Hundreds of people in Bridgend rely on an efficient rail service to get to work in Cardiff or Swansea. The replacement bus service is putting a lot of extra time onto their journeys. With the vast majority of children off school this week, a large number of families hoping to get out and about for the day are also being affected.

Network Rail needs to provide answers to passengers as to why they did not anticipate such an overrun. They need to conduct a full inquiry into why this has occurred and lessons need to be learnt to avoid this happening again in the future.

The events of the last few days are extremely damaging for the reputation of rail. At a time when we are trying to encourage people to use public transport as much as possible, passengers need to have full confidence that services are going to be returned to normal as soon as possible.

Community Transport Boost

BUS passengers and community transport users in Bridgend will benefit from an additional £435,349 thanks to Labour.

This is great news for communities in Bridgend. This money will help people who need to rely on community transport like the elderly.

The extra cash can go towards adding new local bus services or making them more regular. Schemes like dial-a-ride, community minibuses and shopmobility are an excellent way of helping the elderly and disabled or those without a car to get out and about.

Money is also there for bus shelters, better transport information and for purchasing of low floor vehicles to help elderly and disabled passengers.

Labour is committed to providing better local transport for communities in Bridgend and especially to help the most vulnerable members of our community.

Safer Routes to School will save lives

I welcome the announcement that Bridgend County Borough Council has been given £245k for the creation of Safe Routes to Schools for Cwmfelin Primary, Maes Yr Haul Primary and Llangewydd Junior Schools by the Labour Welsh Assembly Government.

Too many children are hurt in road accidents around schools. 16 children aged 0-7 were killed or seriously injured every week on the roads. This is unacceptable.

There can be little doubt that local people want to see Safe Routes to School schemes because they limit the speed of drivers outside schools. But even with Safe Routes we still rely on drivers to act responsibly. We need to educate more drivers on the need to slow down.

In car accidents involving children, at 40pm 90% of children are killed. At 30mph half of all children are killed. At 20mph one child in twenty is killed. Even a small drop in speed, especially round schools, saves lives.

Cars kill more kids than cancer. That is why, if re-elected, the Labour Party will introduce a £100 million safer roads fund for Wales. We will introduce more Safe Routes to School and more 20mph zones outside schools.

Welsh Labour’s mission to build a better, safer, tidy Bridgend

WELSH Labour will build a better, safer, tidy Bridgend.

I very much welcome the party’s early Assembly election pledges, launched at the beginning of the Labour Party Conference here in Llandudno yesterday.

The key message from the Party’s annual get together to the people of Bridgend is that Labour has the ideas to lead Wales after May’s Assembly election with plans to make local communities fairer, safer and more prosperous.

The plans include:

- Organise specialist skills academies which allow people in employment to upgrade their skills
- New high quality vocational courses for 14- 19 year olds in Wales
- Ensure that all people who want an NHS dentist, can have one
- Provide free parking at NHS hospital car parks for patients requiring treatment for chemotherapy, radiotherapy and renal dialysis; and better season ticket arrangements for those who want one
- Continue to provide prescriptions free of charge
- Provide free childcare for two year olds in our most disadvantaged communities
- Introduce a new ‘Tidy Towns’ programme: extra funding and new requirements on councils to keep towns and villages free of litter and graffiti, involving local people in environmental clean-up and increase fines for litter and graffiti
- Provide a £100 million fund for safer local roads
- Provide sprinklers in all new school buildings and extend that provision in existing buildings
- Ensure all children can use a sports or leisure facility or swimming pool free of charge at weekends

These commitments from Welsh Labour will send a clear signal to the people of Bridgend that we stand for fairness in all aspects of society, prosperity at work and communities that are safe and tidy.

People in Bridgend want towns they can be proud of, and Labour is standing by local communities by taking a zero tolerance approach to litter, graffiti and anti-social behaviour.

Welsh Labour stands for fairness and investment in healthcare, support for those most in need and a quality health service available for free and to all. Making sure everyone who wants an NHS dentist gets one will be a real help to people in Bridgend.

Labour stands for the very best jobs for Bridgend workers. We’re helping people to get more and better skills so that we can bring more and better jobs here.

And I am delighted that under a Labour Welsh Assembly Government, children will be able to use local leisure centres for free at the weekends. This is great news for Bridgend families.

The choice for the people of Wales is clear. Only Welsh Labour offers Wales a Tory-free government. The Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru have refused to rule out serving under the Tories. Welsh Labour is the only party that can offer people the safer, prosperous and fairer future they deserve.

Life Saving Shocks at Bridgend Railway Station

Vital life saving equipment for heart attack victims in Bridgend has been made available thanks to Welsh Assembly money.

The Assembly’s £140,000 fund for new public access defibrillation machines will help save the life of anyone suffering from a heart attack in busy shopping centres and rail stations across Wales.

Defibrillators deliver controlled electric shocks and the sooner the shock the greater the chance of survival. The Welsh Ambulance Service was given the Assembly money to train staff at Bridgend Railway Station to use the defibrillators and in basic life support.

Heart disease is one of Wales’ and Bridgend’s biggest killers. Around 8,000 people in Wales die each year from coronary heart disease.

Tackling this problem is one of the Labour Assembly Government’s top priorities and the new defibrillators at Bridgend Railway Station can save lives on the spot.

Research shows that when a shock can be given within five minutes of someone collapsing over a quarter of patients survive.

280 people have been trained at 22 sites across Wales and by the end of the programme Wales’ busiest public locations will be prepared to offer life saving equipment.

Delivery of New Generation Trains for Bridgend

Rail passengers in Bridgend using Arriva Trains’ Manchester to Carmarthen line are to benefit from more modern, spacious trains from Monday (11 December 2006).

Arriva Trains Wales receives £140 million each year from the Welsh Assembly Government and the newly purchased ‘Coradia’ trains on the Manchester to Carmarthen route will boost the number of seats available and give passengers a speedier and more comfortable journey.

The Labour Welsh Assembly Government is committed to providing commuters and passengers in Bridgend with an affordable, practical and environmentally friendly alternative to the car.

The new additions on the Manchester to Carmarthen line are the best of a new generation of trains reaching speeds of up to 100 mph, with improved leg room, air conditioning, on train CCTV and better toilet and baby changing facilities.

I hope that as well encouraging commuters on to the train, more people will be attracted to the service for more of their travel needs.

These new trains show that improving rail services across Wales is a Welsh Labour priority.