Why join the WBRUA?
The Wrexham-Bidston Rail Users’ Association
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Membership of the WBRUA costs little more than a couple of pints of good beer per year. What opportunities can we offer new members? Be part of a group committed to the development of more efficient public transport in line with necessary eco-driven development, meet with Rail professionals, organizations, employers and politicians at various levels, and be able to show that you’ve changed something for the better;
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Our work is never complete and we are reliant on our members and grateful for their continued support. If you would like to know more about what we do before you consider joining the WBRUA then read on to see what the Association has achieved in recent years. ​
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The WBRUA represents rail users, potential rail users and the transport interests of communities along the Wrexham-Bidston rail corridor. We can do that most effectively by pushing for a more punctual & reliable train service, better-maintained stations, fairer fares & more efficient collection of revenue and better communications around any changes or disruption to the service.
More strategically, we engage actively with TfW and Network Rail concerning the development of the line (a more frequent service, the opening of additional stations and the eventual through-running of trains from Liverpool to Wrexham).
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During the last seven years the Association has been successful in the four key objectives mentioned above, achieving the following:
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Successfully pushing back against a proposal to bring Class 153 single car units to the line – under-powered and known from several years earlier to be incapable of maintaining the schedule.
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Monitoring and feeding back in detail on the performance of the (then) new Class 230 trains, visiting the maintenance depot at Birkenhead North and talking to engineers. This line of communication remains open.
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Directing TfW and NR to areas where lineside vegetation was affecting adhesion and in some places actually damaging the trains’ paintwork. Significant vegetation management took place and we continue to monitor and report on the worst-affected areas.
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Providing validated tables of improvements to sectional running times achievable from the raising of line-speeds now that track has been renewed.
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Leading in the writing of an Open Letter from User Groups to senior managers and politicians at the time in mid-2023 when the route was one of the worst-performing lines in the country. This ledto a visit from the Dep.Minister for Transport & Climate Change and a widely-publicised plan of improvements including a 45-min service frequency. Punctuality & reliability through the winter of 2023/24 was significantly improved.
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Monitoring of fare collection and presence of conductors up & down the trains en route. Fare collection and dwell-times at stations have improved now that conductors operate the doors from the saloons on Class 230s.
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Improved signage, notably at Shotton station where TfW involved the WBRUA in the working and sighting of the signs.
We provide up-to-date information to TfW on punctuality, cancellations & communications, often before their own data on punctuality & reliability reaches us. This enables us to ask for the root cause(s) of any problems we have seen, and challenge where the responses don’t appear to address the problem.
We hold a weekly phone conference with TfW Senior Manager Jez Williams who was seconded to the line to help drive improvements after our Open Letter. These meetings aren’t window-dressed presentations; rather, they’re full & frank discussions with actions and deadlines agreed. We would like to see faster progress, but out of the noise we made in May-June 2023 has come a more reliable and punctual train service. Consequently, use of the service has risen significantly from the all-time low (Pandemic excepted) in Spring & Summer 2023.
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Now, to the future: Much of the correspondence and meeting time between the WBRUA and TfW & NR is now around the objectiveof through services between Wrexham and Liverpool via Shotton & Wirral. We are kept informed about planning involving battery/electric Class 777s, infrastructure improvements to facilitate a 30-minute frequency (inclusive of freight operations) and restoration of sub-60min running times from Bidston to Wrexham. Much about the future is political, and we will engage with councils along the route.
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