In 2022 my wife and I travelled to Casperia and back by train (to La Torretta which my aunt/uncle/cousins have run since about 2000). I documented that trip here To Rome and back by train… – Mark Barry (swalesmetroprof.blog). We have just repeated that trip in April 2024 to mark something of a semi-retirement for … Continue reading To Casperia and back by train…
Despite the naysaying and the covid induced delays, the Core Valley Lines (CVL) transformation part of The South Wales Metro is progressing at pace and by the end of 2025, will deliver a radical uplift in public transport services and capacity to the core valleys north of Cardiff[i]. This is a great start, but we … Continue reading Metro, subsidies & Cardiff… Some tough choices and compromises?
On February 13th, 2024, Sarah Atherton MP published a piece in the Wrexham Leader criticising a number of Welsh Government decisions and/or implications thereof of as regards transport. 'Plan for increased use of public transport is fundamentally flawed' | The Leader (leaderlive.co.uk) Whilst I have no problem with an honest and reasoned critique, most of … Continue reading There must be an election coming up…
To support my presentation at a Wales Week in London event on the South Wales Metro on 27th February, I have penned a few words about the Cardiff Capital Region Metro. It also appeared in a shorter form in Transport Times on February 13th, 2024. You can also download the presentation I used here PS I … Continue reading Wales, Metro, TOD & Devolution…
A version of this blog appeared in Bylines Cymru on 18th February 2024 No, I'm not an economist, so if you are and/or are better informed please challenge this “wip draft”. As it stands, it seems to me we have an enormous “elephant in the room” re GDP, which we can no longer ignore!. Unless … Continue reading What use is GDP on a planet with no trees or bees?
Some of you will know I am busy writing a book about the South Wales Metro (or the Cardiff Capital Region metro as it used to be called…and will again I suspect). I have devoted one chapter to the dysfunction of the UK rail industry ecosystem as regards Wales (so yes UK Government investment, Barnett, … Continue reading The UK rail industry, Wales, HS2, Trans Pennine Upgrade, Network Rail spend, etc…
Cardiff is getting a new bus station in Spring 2024…at last. Over the last few months, I have observed much commentary on this project, about the delay, the shortcomings, the coaches, etc. Some appear insightful, some misinformed and some just wrong. So, I thought I might share a few reflections on bus, integration and the … Continue reading Cardiff bus station, bus networks and integration…
Without fundamental constitutional reform, a Swansea Bay Metro will likely never happen. A version of this blog appeared in the business section of Business News Wales / Western Mail on January 5th 2024. I want here to summarise its initial concept development, more recent scheme and business case development and the very real obstacles to … Continue reading No rail devolution? No Swansea Bay Metro!
Earlier this week (on Tuesday 29th November 2023) I took a trip up to the top of the Dulais Valley, Onllwyn and the site of the Global Centre of Rail Excellence. My previous trip had been over five years earlier with MP Christina Rees and colleague Katie Allister to see what was then, Celtic Energy’s … Continue reading Pride and the Global Centre of Rail Excellence
So, this week, Rishi Sunak, No 10 and HMT announced “Network North”[i]. This in effect killed HS2 and included in the small print £1Bn for the electrification of the NWML. So, in Wales, all good, yes? Well maybe not, let’s take a closer look. Figure 1 Network North Illustration from No10 Oct. 2023! First what … Continue reading The butchering of HS2, Wales and the NWML…
Another departure and I hope a useful metaphor when looking at the impact of "Value of Time" calculations used in transport appraisal! A long time ago, I studied Physics in Manchester, and first encountered the non-intuitive nature of Quantum Physics. I didn’t really understand it then, read some books after University and thought I did…but … Continue reading Quantum Physics, Transport Planning & Value of Time (VoT)!
A very quick blog/brain dump, prompted by some Linked In Comments earlier today. Its draft and if I get time will refine and add some references in the next few days.... Seems to me we are facing a population conundrum. Today the world's population is just over 8 billon; up from just 3 billion in … Continue reading The population conundrum…and immigration opportunity
This is another departure for me.... As a child growing up in the 1960s/1970s I was fascinated with space, the Apollo programme and the potential for life elsewhere in the universe - and the possibility of UFOs. However, by my teens I had moved on with regard to the latter and like most people had … Continue reading What is going in the US re: UAPs?
A version of this blog was published in Bylines Cymru in August 2023 Over the last few weeks, I have become aware of some “climate change” arguments propagating, based around the percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere. I have to be honest, from the top of my head I couldn’t remember. I had a look … Continue reading A little knowledge is dangerous
I wrote a short blog on the subject of car dependency in 2021. Given the news today re a potential Road User Charge in Cardiff I thought a brief update would be in order... I know that fuel duties and vehicle excise duties raise about £32BN each year for HM Treasury...and that roads can provide … Continue reading Cars, Congestion, Health and Road Pricing…
Mark Barry 