A proposed railway station assessed as 'high' value for money has been omitted from the Welsh Government’s new prioritised list of stations.
Campaigning for the station on the main line at Magor, between the Severn Tunnel and Newport, started with an online crowdfunding campaign which fell short of its target. Subsequently Monmouthshire County Council’s Local Transport Plan listed the station as a priority.
Welsh infrastructure secretary Ken Skates
The authority used Section 106 developer contributions to help fund studies in line with Network Rail’s Governance for Railway Investment Projects framework, which indicated a Benefit:Cost Ratio (BCR) of more than two ('high' value) for the station.
In a letter to Assembly Members, infrastructure secretary Ken Skates has revealed that Magor is not among the 12 stations 'which will be taken forward for further development'.
The letter says 46 station proposals were assessed using the WeLTAG criteria, similar to WebTAG in England, and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
Transport Network asked why Magor was omitted and whether the stations’ BCRs were compared. Mr Skates responded: 'The decision was made having assessed a number of proposals against the well-being goals as set out in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.'
Transport Network understands that BCRs for most of the 12 stations have not yet been developed. One exception is Bow Street, in Ceredigion, for which the Welsh Government has submitted an application to Network Rail’s New Stations Fund 2 on the strength of a 'moderate' value for money BCR.
The Initial Demand Forecast and Economic Appraisal for Magor station, undertaken by consultancy Mott MacDonald, shows that the station’s BCR would exceed two, provided the implementation cost is between £7m and £8.6m in 2016 prices.
The cost was quoted as £7m last year, when Monmouthshire applied to the New Stations Fund 2 for 75% of the cost.
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