Wales & Borders
Wales and Borders is the name of a franchise of train services covering Wales, the Welsh Marches and bordering counties of England.
History
The franchise was initially formed from part of the former Wales and West franchise (the remainder forming Wessex Trains) and the Cardiff Railway Company (which traded as Valley Lines), together with the lines from Shrewsbury to Pwllheli and Aberystwyth formerly operated by Central Trains. This franchise was operated by a company also named Wales and Borders, which was part of the National Express Group and was based in Cardiff. It also took over the operation of all railway stations in Wales.
In September 2003 the lines west of Crewe, through Chester to Holyhead, Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog previously operated by First North Western were transferred to Wales and Borders. This was the first time that all mainline railways in Wales were operated as a cohesive unit.
In July 2003 the Strategic Rail Authority announced that from 7 December 2003 the franchise would be awarded for a 15 year period (subject to satisfactory reviews after 5 and 10 years) to Arriva Trains Wales.
Services
As a result of the formation of the Wales and Borders franchise, the number of services between North and South Wales increased. There are now 7 trains a day between Cardiff and Holyhead [5]. The number of direct trains from stations west of Cardiff to England (such as Milford Haven to Manchester Piccadilly via the Marches line) also increased[citation needed]. However this was at the expense of services from stations west of Cardiff to the South Coast of England (e.g Brighton and Portsmouth Harbour), since services to those destinations were transferred to Wessex Trains (later merged with the enlarged First Great Western), which used Cardiff as their westernmost terminus in Wales.