North Wales Metro

We want to make it easier and faster to travel across North Wales whether that’s by train, bus, bike or on foot. This will help create more opportunities for our communities, support inward investment for the area and build better connections with the Northwest of England and across the UK.

Different parts of North Wales have different characteristics, travel patterns, public transport service provision, active travel and other infrastructure and a unique geography, a mix of urban and rural areas, including highly mountainous areas, particularly within the Eryri National Park, has shaped travel in the region.

The population of the region is concentrated in the north-east and northern coastal areas and it has been identified that the majority of car journeys made in the region are short in length and to the same or neighbouring area.

We’re working with Welsh Government, Local Authorities and wider partners to research and identify issues and opportunities to improve public transport and active travel options and encourage alternative, sustainable travel choices.

• What does North Wales Metro mean to you?

  • Integrated transport

  • We’ll continue to improve the integration of bus, rail and active travel to improve connections and make travel easier. Improvements include better cycle parking at rail and bus stations, demand-responsive public transport, and integrated ticketing which can be used across bus and rail services.

  • Rail

  • In May 2019, we launched our new Liverpool to Wrexham service via the Halton Curve, improving links between Liverpool and North Wales.
     

  • We’re investing £800 million in new faster, greener trains for the Wales and Borders rail service.
     

  • In January 2023 our class 197 fleet, our first brand-new trains on the network, was officially launched at Llandudno railway station.
     

  • In April 2023 the first of our class 230 fleet, Wales’s first hybrid trains, entered service on the Borderlands line between Wrexham and Bidston. We’re currently testing upgrades on the fleet, to ensure improved reliability and performance.
     

  • In December 2023 we introduced a new timetable on the Borderlands Line between Wrexham and Bidston. It includes an additional 8 trains per day - 4 in each direction. This has helped to significantly improve services on this line.
     

  • As part of our Station Improvement programme, we’ve delivered significant improvements at stations including Chester, Flint and Runcorn East in 2024.

  • Bus

  • We want more people to travel by bus and for bus travel to be an attractive option.
     

  • We’ve been working in partnership with Welsh Government, local authorities and private bus operators to design a cohesive network of routes across North Wales.
     

  • We’ve also been also further developing integrated ticketing to make travelling in Wales seamless and less complicated.
     

  • We’re working on plans to improve stations, making it easier to change between rail and bus services at Wrexham General, and between North Wales Coast and Borderlands line rail services at Shotton.
     

  • We’ve worked with Gwynedd County Council to improve the former Snowdon Sherpa bus service. The new ‘Sherpa’r Wyddfa’ is now operating in the area, bringing tourists and locals into the National Park - supporting the local economy and helping to ease road congestion by encouraging visitors to leave their cars at home or outside of the National Park.
     

  • We’re introducing more flexible, demand-responsive transport with fflecsi bus services being rolled out in Conwy, Gwynedd, Denbighshire and Flintshire.
     

  • We’re Introducing Tap On / Tap Off capped travel using contactless bank cards across 25 bus operators in North Wales. In addition, we’ve worked with the local authorities and bus operators to introduce Tap On / Tap Off travel on the 1bws ticket that supports capped travel on all bus services in North Wales for £7.00.
     

  • Active travel

  • We’ve been working with and supporting Local Authorities in the past few years to make walking and cycling to and from our key transport hubs easier.
     

  • Safer, more attractive walking and cycling routes and facilities will make travelling around our towns, cities and villages easier.
     

  • We’re also looking at ways to improve railway stations so that it’s easier to walk and cycle to and from them.

• What’s to come?

  • Our multi-million-pound North Wales ambition looks at ways to transform rail, bus and active travel services across the region.

  • Rail

  • We’re looking at ways to unlock capacity issues in Chester and Padeswood, to enable future enhancements on the North Wales Main Line and Borderlands line.
     

  • We’ll continue to work with Network Rail to identify and implement infrastructure changes needed to support these enhancements.
     

  • Key ambitions include enhanced frequency on both the North Wales Main Line and Borderlands Line, with aspirations to extend the Wrexham - Bidston route to Liverpool.

  • Bus

  • Bus will see significant improvement in the coming years.
     

  • We'll continue to work in partnership with local government and private bus operators to deliver a cohesive network of routes across Wales.
     

  • We’re working in collaboration with Welsh Government and local government to deliver improvements to the vehicles used to improve customer experience and air quality.
     

  • Looking further ahead, there are ambitions to introduce electric vehicles on more routes to complete decarbonisation of TrawsCymru services in North Wales.
     

  • We'll also continue to work with local government to improve major bus routes to bring faster and more reliable journey times, which connect with rail and active travel services.

  • Integrated Transport

  • We'll continue to work across bus, rail and active travel to improve the integration of journeys. Our ambition is for this to include improved cycle parking at rail and bus stations, improved demand-responsive public transport services, and integrated ticketing which can be used across bus and rail services.

North Wales Transport Commission 

The North Wales Transport Commission made recommendations on how to make transport work better in North Wales. Its remit covered Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham. It was supported by the Welsh Government and Transport for Wales.

The Commission considered how a shift could be made to more sustainable transport, for both people and freight, in the short, medium and long term. It looked at the needs of both urban and rural areas and took a multimodal approach, considering rail, bus, walking and cycling.

The recommendations included viable alternatives to private car journeys and a transport system that makes life better for everyone in North Wales, as well as supporting the journey to net zero.

You can view the final report here.