Urgent action called forto ‘sort out Tenby station’

The Mayor of Tenby claimed this week that it was 'imperative' that issues concerning the state of the town's railway station were sorted out before the summer. Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter's comments came during a meeting held between town councillors and Community Rail Partnership officer, Mr. Mark Youngman, on Tuesday afternoon. At a recent meeting of the council, Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown had called for a meeting with Mr. Youngman as a 'matter of urgency'. Labelling the station 'abysmal, dreadful and an embarassment to us all,' she feared that unless action was taken now, nothing would again be done before the busy summer season. Councillors who met with Mr. Youngman were keen to point out that, despite their efforts in bringing the matter to the train companies' attention, they were continually frustrated at the lack of progress being made to improve the station. The Mayor felt that the various rail companies involved in the station were just 'passing the buck', and no-one was taking responsibility for the station as a whole. She felt that urgent action needed to be taken, as the station was the gateway to the town, suggesting that an action group could be set up. She also felt that the rail companies had a moral obligation to do more to protect their own property. Town clerk, Mr. Andrew Davies also pointed out that when he met with Mr. Julian Viggers, of Arriva Trains, to discuss the issue some 18 months ago, Mr. Viggers had said that Arriva would soon be painting the station in its corporate livery, yet this still had not been done. Mr. Youngman told those present that recent press coverage had given the rail companies a 'kick up the backside' and he was pleased to report that Network Rail, who were responsible for the siding area to the rear of the upline Carmarthen bound platform, had contacted him that morning. They had confirm that they would be undertaking work towards the end of this month and in April to tackle the overgrowth and litter in that area. They would also be dealing with the graffiti on those areas of land and buildings within their responsibility. Lessee of the station building, Mrs. Mary Lambin was also present at the meeting and explained that any work undertaken could be undone without CCTV in place to deter vandalism. She had pushed for CCTV to be installed over three years ago when she met with Mr. Viggers, but the rail companies had said no at the time. She added that she was prepared to invest in improving the station, but felt that there was no point until the vandalism issues were resolved. Mr. Youngman said that he and Mr. Viggers were pressing for action to be taken on Tenby Railway Station, but the problem was trying to convince management in Cardiff of the urgency, when they were getting similar requests from other areas they covered. Clr. Trevor Hallett wondered if provision of CCTV could be included in the franchise agreements to give to the rail companies, while Clr. Mrs. Caroline Thomas asked if funding would be available should the people of Tenby look to set up an action group. Mr. Youngman explained that Arriva had a 'station adopter' scheme which took two forms. One was just keeping a watching brief, while the other allowed for more 'hands on' involvement, but to his frustration, the latter approach raised insurance and health and safety issues which were difficult to resolve. However, he agreed to send the town council details of the schemes. Mr. Youngman went on to stress that out of all the 23 stations his Partnership covered, Tenby was the one he wanted sorted out most of all, but there were also rules and regulations which frustrated the issue. He explained that there seemed to be no 'public interest' from the rail companies anymore, only commercial interests, and it was the job of his Partnership to ensure that the public interest was not forgotten. He pointed out that the Partnership had some finances available, which all three members (Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Swansea City Councils) had agreed could be spent on Tenby. Mr. Youngman was aware that Arriva were progressing a scheme for Tenby, but the directors had still to approve it. He had communicated to Arriva that if funding was a stumbling block, the Partnership had these finances available to help progress matters. Mr. Youngman remarked that part of his frustration was that there were so many companies with interests in Tenby station that did not talk to each other, but it was part of his role to put pressure on the companies concerned to encourage this flow of dialogue. The Mayor also felt that the rail companies needed to meet so that they could all 'sing from the same hymn sheet' reagarding the town's station. Mr. Youngman agreed to continue to press the issue and to keep the town council and also Mrs. Lambin informed. On a positive note, Mr. Youngman said that the through train service from London on a Saturday during the summer was to be continued, adding that the Partnership were still putting pressure on Arriva to operate trains with more than one carriage on the line also during the summer.