Sustainable development annual update 2019/20

Gareth Morgan
Safety and Sustainibility Director
Transport for Wales

We’re working to deliver a transport network of which Wales is proud, one that delivers the ambitions of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. Over the past year, we‘ve undertaken some fantastic initiatives and have achieved a great deal which is detailed in this report.

Our Sustainable Development Plan published in November 2019 was well received and we have been working with other organisations from here in Wales to those in New Zealand to help them broaden their sustainability achievements.

Considering the current situation, we know that change will take place and we can’t return to business as usual. For us, this means an increased focus on delivering infrastructure which will help people move around safely and increasing our work on Active Travel which will relieve congestion on public transport and roads while improving air quality in our communities.

Involving our Infrastructure Development Partners (IDP) and contractors in our sustainability objectives has allowed us to achieve wider benefits from our project delivery. Collaboration between IDPs is also key for innovation, demonstrated in projects such as our solar tower lighting trial on site at Taff’s Well.

We’ll be using what we have learned so far to achieve the goals set out in the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. We hope our experiences can inspire other organisations to develop their own innovative solutions to meet these goals.

Though Transport for Wales’ remit is to create a multi-modal transport network in Wales, our first area of focus has been our railways. We are now eighteen months into working with our Rail Services Operator, KeolisAmey, which operates as Transport for Wales Rail Services. We are proud of our achievements during this time and look forward to what we will accomplish working together in the future.

Leyton Powell
Safety and Assurance Director 
Transport for Wales Rail Services

Transport for Wales Rail Services is operated by Keolis Amey Wales Cymru Ltd, a joint venture between a leading global operator of progressive public transport systems, Keolis, and the leading infrastructure support specialists, Amey, to deliver a fifteen-year contract to transform rail services in Wales and build the South Wales Metro.

We’re ambitious. Our plan is about more than just running the Wales and Borders rail service - our aim is to transform travel in Wales and the borders. A collaborative approach to delivering Sustainable Development is at the heart of this.

We’re committed to embedding sustainability throughout our organisation, training our team and holding awareness raising sessions, enabling our team to take part in volunteering activities and implementing a new Environmental Management System that applies across all of our operations.

Minimising our environmental impact through the Green Dragon Environmental Management System enables us to not only prevent harm to the environment but also to support our Corporate Social Responsibility. The environmental standard is run by a charity and the money we pay them contributes to their work with communities.

We’re also proud of the work we’ve undertaken to improve accessibility: our objective is to ensure that all our passengers can travel by rail independently and safely. We’ve introduced the Baby on Board Badge and our ‘Passenger Assist’ team who are there to offer dedicated support to vulnerable customers or those requiring a helping hand to use rail services more easily.

We take sustainability seriously, working collaboratively to achieve a shared goal. This is just the beginning.

This is our first sustainable development annual update. We’re proud to share with you how much we’ve achieved in 2019/20.

Last year, as well as developing our Plan, we’ve been busy delivering our commitments to the seven Well-being Goals and five Ways of Working detailed in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

This update details achievements since 1 April 2019 through case studies, news stories, blogs, podcasts and social media posts. It highlights key activities and actions undertaken.

More information can be found in our annual report.

We launched our Sustainable Development Plan in November 2019.

Listen to our launch podcast.

Our sustainable development plan is supported by a number of key documents and targets

Our low carbon impact strategy details our commitments to reducing Wales’ carbon emissions.

Decarbonising our transport network presents a significant challenge. Over recent years, transport emissions have remained mostly stable despite vehicle efficiency gradually improving. In Wales, travel by cars and other motor vehicles contributes to around 2,000 deaths annually, mainly caused by nitrogen dioxide, ozone and particulate matter in the air.

In the short-term, we can reduce Wales’ CO2 by encouraging more people to walk, cycle or use public transport as an alternative to driving. To support this, we’re making a significant investment in the Wales and Borders rail service and the South Wales Metro.

A number of South Wales Metro projects have been part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.

We’re overhauling both the image and reliability of public transport in Wales to improve our customers’ travelling experience. The improvements we’re making will support the Welsh Government in meeting Wales’ ambitious decarbonisation targets, while also reducing inequalities, improving physical and mental health and helping reduce air pollution.

We’re supporting the Welsh Government in embracing this change by investing in infrastructure and introducing our new rolling stock.

In December we published our biodiversity and resilience of ecosystems duty Report, which is a requirement under the Environment (Wales) Act 2016. Over the next 5 years we’ll undertake works throughout Wales and the borders to develop and upgrade our rail network.

We recognise that this work may impact upon biodiversity. Our biodiversity action plan outlines our strategies to protect and restore natural habitats around our service areas.

The Well-being of Future Generations Act places upon us a duty to consider the social, environmental, economic and cultural well-being of Wales. We have detailed how we are working towards the Goals and the Ways of Working outlined in the Act through a set of case studies.

A prosperous Wales

• Apprenticeships
• Real Living Wage 
• Coffee Cup Recycling
• TfW Lab
• Future Leaders Academy

A resilient Wales

• Riding Sunbeams
• Electric Vehicles
• Species Assessment
• Environmental Management System
• Llanwern
• Energy Planning Group

A more equal Wales

• Passenger Assist
• Volunteering
• Active travel

A healthier Wales

• Well-being at Work
• Active travel

A Wales of cohesive communities

• Station Adopters

A Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language

• CADW
• Eisteddfod

A globally responsible Wales

• Fairtrade

Prevention

• Coffee Cup Recycling
• Environmental Management System
• Real Living Wage
• Llanwern
• Well-being at Work

Long term

• Apprenticeships
• Environmental Management System
• Real Living Wage
• Riding Sunbeams
• Electric Vehicles

Involvement

• Eisteddfod
• Fairtrade
• Environmental Management System
• Station Adopters
• Well-being at Work

Integration

• CADW
• Fairtrade
• TfW Lab
• Energy Planning Group

Collaboration

• Coffee Cup Recycling
• CADW
• Eisteddfod
• Station Adopters
• Riding Sunbeams
• Future Leaders Academy

We’ll stimulate economic activity and promote a prosperous, innovative and low carbon economy which will provide high quality employment for our team members and our supply chain.

We’ll conserve natural resources and improve the quality of the environment in which we operate by promoting sustainable consumption, reducing waste and driving continual improvement.

Highlights

• We’re providing work opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)
• We worked closely with Sell2Wales and Business Wales to attract SMEs
• We held 2 meet the buyer events
• We include sustainability criteria in all our new commercial arrangements with key suppliers
• We pay our staff the Real Living Wage and require our suppliers to pay the Living Wage
• We’ve implemented our Waste Management Plan
• We’ve achieved 100% diversion of waste from landfill
• We’ve recruited 38 apprentices
• We’ve started running on-board catering services and welcomed over 100 employees to the TfW team

TfW Labs

Lab by Transport for Wales is Wales’ leading rail innovation programme run by Transport for Wales Rail Services which seeks to support ambitious start-up companies with innovative ideas and solutions that can benefit rail and its customers in a socially, culturally and environmentally friendly way.

Click here to read more about TfW Lab

Future Leaders Academy

One of our youngest employees joined The Future Leaders Academy which has focused on skills for the future, by supporting a group of 20 young leaders across Wales, from a wide range of organisations who have a responsibility to support the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

Click here to read more about the Future Leaders Academy

Sustainable procurement

Our supply chain

We’ve worked in partnership with Sell2Wales and have held two ‘meet the buyer’ events, one in Llandudno and one in Swansea. Our consultancy and procurement teams have been collaborating on several engagement events throughout the year.

We held an engagement event to identify specialist consultancy panels for a place on our new framework and to attract small and medium-sized businesses and local supply chains to support us. Ninety suppliers registered their interest in our framework.

We held an engagement event with suppliers for the procurement of the furniture for our new office at Llys Cadwyn in Pontypridd.

In May 2019 we awarded a contract to ELITE Paper Solutions, a social enterprise that helps people with disabilities obtain employment.

Joshua O’Leary,
ELITE Paper Solutions

ELITE Paper Solutions provided me with an opportunity to develop my confidence and skills so that I could find future employment. The social enterprise provides a safe learning environment and helps people overcome their difficulties, so that they feel confident in the workplace.

It’s great that Transport for Wales has awarded us this contract as it helps the community and provides benefits for local people.

Living Wage

In November 2019 we announced our accreditation as a Living Wage Employer. 

Our commitment will see everyone working at Transport for Wales receives a minimum hourly wage of £9.30. This is significantly higher than the UK government minimum for over 25s, which currently stands at £8.21 per hour.

Click here to read more about our commitment

James Price
Chief Executive
Transport for Wales

We are pleased to announce that Transport for Wales is now formally recognised as a 
Living Wage Employer. As we progress and evolve as an organisation, our staff will be 
essential to our success and we want all our staff to feel valued and have fulfilling careers.

We are a modern organisation with a social purpose and as well as this announcement we 
have also committed to supporting community involvement through offering our staff up to 
three days paid leave to volunteer in their local community.
 

Waste and recycling

We’re working with Swansea Environment Centre, Hubbub and Swansea Council to roll out the #InTheLoop recycling scheme. The scheme saw the installation of new onthe-go recycling bins across Swansea city centre.

As coffee cups make up a high proportion of waste at our stations, our Rail Services team are trialling a dedicated cup recycling point at Swansea railway station. The trial will determine how quickly we’ll be able to roll out similar schemes to other stations around our network.

Click here to read more about our coffee-cup recycling scheme

We diverted 100% of our waste from landfill in 2019/20. Our target was 95%

Employment

Through our recruitment, our focus has been to take every opportunity to recruit locally and to forge strong partnerships. We’ve recruited 38 apprentices through our apprenticeship programme and are expanding our opportunities.

Click here to read more about our apprenticeship programme

100 catering colleagues joined TfW at the start of 2020. We welcomed Customer Hosts, Service Centre Porters, Supervisors and Managers, Premier Chefs and Premier Customer Hosts. Our catering team is based at our four service centres in Shrewsbury, Carmarthen, Newport and Crewe

Economy

In February we signed the terms of the lease to occupy number 3 Llys Cadwyn, one of the brand-new buildings on the site of the former Taff Vale Shopping Centre in Pontypridd. We’re looking forward to moving to our new home later this year. You can read more about this on the Rhondda Cynon Taf website.

We’ll strengthen resilience and adapt to the changing climate and extreme weather events, and manage environmental risk by planning, monitoring, reviewing and, where appropriate, changing actions. 

We’ll reduce the degradation of natural habitats, natural resources and protect and enhance biodiversity.

Highlights

• We procure 100% renewable energy 
• We’ve undertaken a feasibility study on trackside renewables
• We’re delivering work on the pan Wales EV charging network
• We’ve launched our Biodiversity Action Plan
• We’ve published our first Biodiversity and Resilience of Ecosystems Duty Report 
• We’ve published our Low Carbon Impact Strategy 
• We’ve achieved the Green Dragon Environmental Management System accreditation 
• We’ve developed a legal register
• We’ve carried out environmental training with Station Managers

Energy

We’re taking part in Energy Groups across Wales including the North Wales Regional Energy Planning Group, Swansea Bay City Region Energy Planning Group and Cardiff City Region Energy Planning Group.

Click here to read more about Energy Planning Groups

Kevin Thomas
Chief Executive
Transport for Wales Rail Services

As Wales’ Rail Operator, we’re committed to playing our part in the climate emergency. That’s why 100% of our energy is procured from renewable sources.

With the upcoming electrification of the Core Valleys Lines and the introduction of new electric bi-mode and tri-mode trains, our energy requirements will increase significantly. To ensure that we’re ready to meet that increased demand, we plan to install our own solar panels at stations and depots and to start working with other organisations to help us increase the amount of locally generated electricity that we use.

Riding sunbeams

In September, we held a stakeholder briefing on a project we have been working on called Green Valley Lines, led by Riding Sunbeams. The project is a feasibility study looking at the possibility of connecting locally generated and community-owned renewables to the electrification of the Aberdare, Coryton, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhymney and Treherbert lines, also known as the Core Valleys Lines.

Click here to read more about Riding sunbeams

Water refill

On 19 June 2019, we supported National Refill Day. Since then, we’ve been promoting the Refill App and we’re also considering which stations are ideal locations for installing new water refill points.

EV charging

Between October and January, we held market and stakeholder engagement events to gather valuable feedback as we move forward in developing a network of rapid charging points across Wales.

Click here to read more about EV charging

Biodiversity

We’re planting a woodland in Llanwern, Newport across a 20-hectare area purchased by the Welsh Government. The project will enhance biodiversity in the area and join two existing but fragmented woodlands.

We’ve now completed phase 1 of planting and introduced more than 37,000 trees and 100 dormice boxes to 9 hectares of the site.

Click here to read more about Llanwern

Our ecologists have undertaken thorough habitat and vegetation surveys along the Core Valley Lines in order to ensure the impacts of our operations are minimised.

We aim to be fully accountable for all vegetation removed as part of the CVL Transformation project and we will have due regard to conserve, restore and enhance biodiversity.

Click here to read more about species assessment

Environmental Management System

Transport for Wales Rail Services’ environmental management system was previously certified to the ISO14001:2015 standard at St Mary’s House in Cardiff and three train maintenance depots (Canton, Holyhead and Machynlleth). However, when the time came to renew our certification, we decided to apply for the Level 5 Green Dragon Environmental Standard.

This Standard is run by Groundwork Wales – a community-based charity. Level 5 of Green Dragon is the highest level and is equivalent to ISO 14001:2015. We’re proud to say that all four locations have achieved Level 5 accreditation.

We’re now working on certifying all 247 of our stations to Level 2, with plans to raise some of our larger stations to higher levels of the standard over the coming years. To prepare for this we’ve held two Green Dragon question-and-answer sessions (in both North and South Wales) for our Station Managers in readiness for the introduction of the Standard.

Achieving this certification at our stations is new to us and our station managers are excited to be engaged.

Click here to read more about Green Dragon

Groundwork Wales is pleased to support Transport for Wales with their Environmental Management ambitions. The Green Dragon Environmental Standard is a home-grown, stepped approach to accrediting an organisation’s environmental credentials and commitments. Groundwork supports organisations through levels 1-5, as well as providing consultancy and support, and unlike other accreditation bodies, we are a community-based charity, so the income we generate from this this work contributes to our charitable vision of Changing Places Changing Lives

Katy Stevenson,
Chief Executive
Groundwork Wales

We’ll promote a socially equal, inclusive, healthy and safe transport network for all our team members.

Highlights

• We’ve introduced body cameras to help keep colleagues and customers safe
• We’ve introduced the ‘Five ways to Well-being’ principles
• We’re a Time to Change pledged partner with Mind Cymru 
• We’ve trained 16 Mental Health Champions and 10 Mental Health First Aiders
• We have a corporate NextBike Scheme membership

Active travel

We’ve contributed to the development of the Welsh Government policies and strategies including Healthy Weight, Healthy Wales and the Clean Air Plan for Wales.

We’ve surveyed our employees on their travel patterns to help us develop our employee Travel Plan and to support Cardiff’s Healthy Travel Charter.

Click here to read more about Active Travel

NextBike membership

TfW employees have access to the corporate NextBike Scheme which enables them to cycle to meetings with no additional charge for journeys up to 30 minutes.

We use the bikes to travel to meetings in and around Cardiff.

Safety

Last year alone, we saw over 350 reported accounts of physical or verbal abuse against our team on our trains. Whilst this is a small number in terms of the overall journeys, we’re keen to further reduce this number as any incident should not be tolerated.

In February, we introduced a body camera trial across the Wales and Borders rail service to improve the safety of our customers and employees.

We equipped some of our conductors and members of our station team with modern body cameras that will help to prevent antisocial behaviour at stations and on trains.

Transport for Wales Rail Services works closely with the Rail Safety Standards Board which monitors and advises our industry on the latest best operational practice.

We have to deal with a range of people daily and most of our customers are grateful and polite. We work extremely hard to give our customers the best possible experience when using our services, however at times staff and passengers do experience occasional antisocial behaviour and abuse.

The introduction of these cameras should act as a deterrent to antisocial behaviour, support assault prosecutions and boost public confidence in safety. They will provide our front-line staff with more confidence when dealing with difficult situations and abusive customers.

Marc Clancy
Conductor
Transport for Wales Rail Services

Employee well-being

Our internal Well-being Action Group leads campaigns throughout the year to 
promote physical and mental health support to their colleagues and raise funds for a 
nominated charity of the year.

• We’ve 10 trained Mental Health First Aiders and 16 trained Mental Health Champions throughout the organisation, including the entire Executive Team. 
• We participated in Time to Talk on 6 February to encourage open discussion about mental health across the organisation. 
• We were also proud to support I Pledge 2 Talk. The campaign addresses suicide prevention and is led by Eluned Morgan AM and is supported by Neville Southall who unveiled a plaque at Carmarthen Station 
• We work closely with Mind Cymru to offer colleague support programmes.

Click here to read more about employee well-being

Lisa Yates
People and Organisational Director 
Transport for Wales

Being a mental health champion helped me to understand that being in mental pain is as debilitating as being in physical pain. The difference is that very often it is something that we keep hidden because we can. We must make sure people know that it is ok not to be ok. When it comes to mental health there is no them and us and we have to keep reaching out to people

We’ll provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of disadvantaged people. We’ll provide opportunities to work and train, identifying skills gaps and offering apprenticeships and training.

We respect fundamental rights and cultural diversity and promote mental and physical well-being.

Highlights

• We’ve introduced Passenger Assist Meeting Points at Cardiff Central station
• We’ve introduced eLearning for team members to undertake core training
• We supported clean-up efforts in Pontypridd following Storm Dennis
• We provide team members with up to three paid volunteering days per year
• We offer free travel for young people

Volunteering

Our people volunteered to support cleanup efforts in Pontypridd following the devastating impacts of Storm Dennis.

Together, over four days, we removed seven tonnes of silt, stones and debris left behind by the river in Ynysangharad Park.

Click here to read more about volunteering

Accessibility and inclusion

Assistance dogs travel scheme

The Assistance Dogs Travel Scheme was created for passengers travelling with a guide dog and is a partnership initiative with Assistance Dogs UK. It is intended to help assistance dogs and their owners travel comfortably and safely on our trains by providing a ‘protected space’ for the dog next to their owner’s seat.

Passengers with an assistance dog receive a highly visible, reusable card which slots into the standard seat reservation holder on top of the seat above which the dog is laying. This informs other passengers of the presence of the assistance dog and that the associated seat should be kept free.

Baby on Board badge

This year, we introduced the Baby on Board badge in recognition of the needs of expectant mothers. The badge identifies a passenger as a mum-to-be and signals to other passengers their priority need of a seat. 

The introduction of a badge removes the stress and anxiety expectant mothers can experience on public transport.

InterpreterNow

In early 2020, we launched a new live British Sign Language (BSL) streaming communication tool called ‘InterpreterNow’ to improve communication for the deaf community to support and increase their access to rail services.

The tool is a UK-based mobile app which aids communication between BSL users and staff. Our customers can download this free app for immediate access to an online interpreter, improving communication across our rail network.

Orange wallet 

Developed in partnership with local authorities and the Welsh Government, the Orange Wallet supports passengers on the autistic spectrum with their everyday activities.

The scheme involves a neon orange wallet with clear sleeves inside which passengers can insert pre-written phrases, instructions, prompts or pictures which are used to communicate their needs. Its benefits as a communication tool have been widely recognised and it is now used by a range of communities who need to communicate with staff when travelling by train or bus.

Sunflower Lanyards

Launching later this year, the Sunflower Lanyard Scheme is a discrete communication tool intended to support wearers who may have hidden or less obvious disabilities.

This lanyard sports a bright green background with a repeating sunflower icon which can be easily recognised by our colleagues.

Our team are trained to approach lanyard-wearing customers sensitively and offer support and a helping hand while travelling.

Passenger assist meeting points

We’ve introduced dedicated PassengerAssist meeting points at Cardiff Central station for customers who need help when travelling.

The recognisable meeting points are located in the front concourse and at the rear entrance of Cardiff Central station.

They include seating and are designed in a distinctive blue colour, which includes five symbols to represent the main disability sectors.

The meeting points will be used as a point of collection and assistance for all customers who have booked assistance and also for anyone requiring additional support on the day of travel. They follow the introduction of four dedicated Customer Ambassadors at Cardiff Central earlier this year.

Click her to read more about our passenger assist meeting points

Macular Week 2019

24th-30th June 2019 was Macular Week and the Milford Haven Macular Society Support Group were invited to take part in a Familiarisation Day that we organised. Members of the group got onboard for the hour-long journey from Milford Haven to Carmarthen to test some of the assisted travel services available to people with sight loss and other disabilities when travelling on our trains.

Apprenticeships

We’re proud to support young professionals with training, development and a salary as they build their career and gain valuable work experience as part of our Apprenticeship Programme. We’ve recruited 38 apprentices in the past year and will be offering many more opportunities in the future.

Click here to read about our apprentices

Free travel for young people

In 2020 we’re extending all-day free travel from under 5s to under 11s, and to under 16s outside peak times, while half-price tickets will be available for 16-18 year olds.

Gender Equality 

We support Women in Rail. In March, we sponsored the Women in Transport event to showcase successful women in the rail industry and encourage more women to pursue a career in this field. 

Transport for Wales Rail Services also appointed a new Rail Services Diversity and Inclusion Manager and have already introduced new policies.

Pride

I was extremely honoured to represent TfW in the Pride Cymru march in Summer 2019. It was fantastic to see a number of colleagues from Rail Services and Network Rail that joined us on a glorious sunny day. I feel privileged to work for an organisation that supports the LGBT community and pride events.

David Jones
Facilities Manager 
Transport for Wales

We’ll use stations to connect people to information, local events and other events within Wales and engage with local communities to ensure their interests are at the heart of our decision-making.

We’ll offer a more integrated transport network with better connectivity between stations and communities.

Highlights

• We’ve hosted 6 seminars to engage community stakeholders
• We launched our Community Rail Vision 
• 151 stations have been adopted by members of the community
• 2 Community Rail Partnerships have received official accreditation 
• We’re developing our Active Travel Strategy

Stakeholder Engagement

We support the Welsh Government’s Valleys Taskforce Initiative with its ambitions to make a real and lasting difference to the region. To gain feedback on the South Wales Metro, our Stakeholder Engagement Managers held six seminars to share our plans to improve transport links to jobs, education, leisure and recreation. Community stakeholders joined local and national decisionmakers and were able to learn about the
exciting opportunities for them and their local communities as well as ask questions and provide feedback on our services.

Community Rail Vision

In May, Ken Skates MS, Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales launched our Community Rail Vision at Llandudno station. The Vision will see new Community Rail Partnerships set up across the Wales and Borders network to promote and encourage rail use.

The vision also highlights our aim to achieve 90 per cent station adoption within four years, creating better links with the communities they serve.

Station adopters

Our ‘Adopt a Station’ scheme aims to improve our links with both local communities and customers living near our unstaffed railway stations.

Volunteers send regular updates on the condition of their station and can undertake gardening projects, introduce floral displays or create art projects. 

The hard work of our station adopters at Frodsham, Runcorn and Nantwich was recognised at the 17th Cheshire Best Kept Station Awards held in January 2020. Chirk Station has also been recognised for its environmental performance, receiving the Clwyd Award for Environmental Improvements and the Wrexham Civic Society Award for Environmental Improvements.

Click here to read more about our station adopters

Community Rail Partnerships

In August, the Heart of Wales Line’s Community Rail Partnership received official accreditation from the Department for Transport and the Welsh Government. The Heart of Wales Development Company has become the second in the UK to receive this new quality benchmark.

We are developing new plans, linking the line to local economic regeneration plans and sustainable transport development. We have an important role to play in local communities from supporting employment projects to creating enterprise and linking businesses across a wide geographic area and accreditation will hopefully strengthen our voice at both a local and national level.

Lisa Denison,
Development Manager
Heart of Wales Line Development Company

One of the most important contributions of community rail is bringing partners and community together. Towns and villages have benefited from the wider promotion such as tourism but also developing a greater sense of pride and ridership. We are one family in Wales and the borders railway and I’m delighted with our success, it’s a significant milestone and one to celebrate.

Claire Williams
Partnership Development Officer 
Cambrian Railway Partnership

Active Travel

We’re developing our Active Travel Strategy, setting out our objectives and plans for the work we do to enhance and promote active travel in years to come.

We’re developing the Taff’s Well Infrastructure Hub and improving Taff’s Well Station to ensure it’s integrated with local cycle routes and encourages people to combine public transport with active travel for longer distance journeys.

Click here to read more about active travel

We’ll promote Wales’ language and culture by engaging with the Arts Council of Wales, Visit Wales, Cadw and other third parties, to promote the arts, culture, heritage and language of Wales and the arts, culture and heritage of other areas we serve.

Highlights

• We support the use of Welsh Language on our services
• The Cambrian Line named one of the world’s most scenic railways
• We partnered with Cadw to offer 2-for-1 entry to any of their paid heritage sites
• We sponsored the 2019 National Eisteddfod 
• We’ve hosted Choirs at our stations

Welsh Language

We’ve introduced a Welsh language information system called Geraint. Over 170 stations have been fitted with Geraint, which provides clear, bilingual journey announcements and up-to-the-minute changes.

Cambrian Line

In August, the Cambrian Line was selected to feature in two national TV documentaries which showcase the world’s most scenic railway journeys. 

The 120-mile-long route boasts a unique mix of scenery, passing through the dramatic landscape of Mid-Wales, before journeying along its North-West coast, offering spectacular views of world heritage sites, unspoiled beaches and the Snowdonia mountain range.

The Cambrian Line plays a pivotal role in Mid Wales’ local economy, helping to attract thousands of additional visitors a year to the region (206,000 in 2005 compared with 462,000 in 2019).

The documentary highlighted the railway line to audiences from the UK and Europe, we hope that this encourages further tourism to Mid-Wales and beyond.

Claire Williams
Partnership Development Officer 
Cambrian Railway Partnership

Partnership with Cadw

In October 2019, we partnered with Cadw to offer 2-for-1 entry to its sites. Our customers can gain free entry when accompanied by another person paying the full entry fee. This offer will run until December 2020.

Click here to read more about Cadw partnership

Catering

TfW now directly runs on-board catering on the Wales and Borders Rail Service. We welcomed over 100 employees to the TfW team and we’re now implementing our ambitious plans to transform the service to provide a reliable and distinctive service featuring locally sourced food and drink.

In March, we attended a local supplier event to meet potential new suppliers.

Eisteddfod

We were a main sponsor and key travel partner for the 2019 National Eisteddfod at Llanwrst.

Click here to read more about our involvement

Celebrating Welsh Music

We often host choirs and traditional bands at our stations across Wales and on St David’s Day we hosted Cwmbach Male Voice Choir.

We’ll limit our global environmental impact and limit our effect on communities overseas through responsible procurement. We’ll comply with international biodiversity regulations and lower our carbon footprint.

Highlights

• We’ve established our baseline carbon footprint and achieved a reduction of 6.27%
• We’ve introduced Fairtrade tea and coffee to our offices 
• We provide Fairtrade products on our services and at stations
• We held a Fairtrade Talk during Fairtrade Fortnight and raised £150 for Love Zimbabwe

Our carbon footprint 

Transport makes up 14% of Wales’ emissions, with rail contributing 1%. We confirmed the figure of 0.10mt CO2 as our baseline carbon footprint for 2018/19 financial year. For our 2019/20 financial year we’re pleased to report a 6.27% reduction of our carbon footprint. The majority of our emissions come from diesel fuel used to power our trains.

Canton Depot, our office in Cardiff, St. Mary’s House and Cardiff Central Railway Station are the biggest emitters in terms of buildings – these emissions came from energy use.

To reduce emissions from fuel, we’re introducing newer trains and reducing our older rolling stock and building a new fleet of greener trains. We’ve also recently taken ownership of the Core Valleys Lines which will allow us to electrify the lines and further reduce our reliance on diesel trains. We’ve been reducing diesel used to generate energy at our sites and trialling PV powered tower lights. These have been very successful - they offer reduced costs, noise, emissions and fumes as well as making sites safer as they have no trailing wires. To reduce our emissions from buildings we changed our energy contracts to SSE Green, which means all our energy is now from renewable sources.

We’ve planted 37,000 trees at a site near Llanwern. This is part of a much larger planting project we are working on to plant a woodland of over 20 hectares. The site formerly belonged to TATA Steel and was in poor ecological condition, with fragmented habitats and public access areas that were inaccessible.

Solar powered lighting

We’ve been collaborating with Balfour Beatty, Alun Griffiths and Prolectric to trial solar powered lighting while building our new Taff’s Well depot. The solar powered lights were used during nightworks at the site. Over the eight week period the lighting saved 3,213 kg of CO2 when compared to a standard diesel powered light and saved £1,019 in diesel costs.

Fairtrade

As well as providing Faitrade products on our trains and in our offices in March we hosted Martha Musonza-Holman from Love Zimbabwe during Fairtrade Fortnight, 24th February to 8th March. The event helped to raise the teams’ awareness about the importance of Fairtrade.

Click here to read more about our commitment

We also tweeted support during the International Fairtrade Towns Conference held in November. 

Fair Trade Wales is the national organisation for Fair Trade education, policy, procurement, support and campaigning in Wales. In 2008 Wales became the world’s first Fair Trade Nation. This commitment makes a real difference to the lives of producers and farmers in developing countries. We pay a fair price for their produce, helping their families and communities to trade their way out of poverty.

Natalie Rees
Sustainable Development Manager 
Transport for Wales 

Board Director
Fairtrade Wales