Around the world, the success of city region economies is becoming increasingly dependent on high capacity, high quality, intra and inter regional public transport systems. Leading city regions in the UK such as Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham and Edinburgh are pushing ahead with the development and expansion of modern urban transit systems to boost their economies. Following the example of many countries around the world, the UK Government has also committed to link up England’s major cities with a High Speed Rail network.
Today, in Wales, over 100,000 people commute into Cardiff and Newport from neighbouring authorities, mainly by car, many of whom are employees of the Partnership’s member companies. This increasing level of commuting between Cardiff, Newport and their neighbouring towns and cities is critically dependent on the region’s transport infrastructure. Therefore, The Cardiff Business Partnership believes that Wale’s future economic growth requires a new vision for the Capital’s connectivity and a recognition from the global evidence, that a thriving, connected city region can be an engine of economic growth. Using the electrification of Great Western Main Line as a catalyst, it is time to develop and implement the ambitious transport vision set out in this paper. This would enable the Cardiff City Region population to travel far more quickly and easily, and also radically enhance connectivity with London and Heathrow.