Cross-border Road and Rail Connectivity

Two routes in Wales form part of the Trans European Network, which link Ireland to Wales and then to England and the rest of the world. The primary cross-border routes are the South Wales to London road and rail corridor and between North East Wales and North West England which share many economic, social and environmental interests. In more rural areas, such as mid-Wales, the social importance of cross-border transport links is also significant.

Building on previous Inquiries by the Welsh Affairs Committee in 2008 and 2010, the Committee has agreed to undertake an inquiry into cross-border road and rail connectivity. Among the issues that the committee will examine are:

• the extent to which cross-border public road and rail services are currently provided for and accessed by the Welsh population;

• the arrangements currently in place to co-ordinate cross-border road and rail transport service provision;

• the potential impact on Wales of the plans for a High Speed 2 (HS2) Rail Service between London, the Midlands and North of England;

• the funding of cross-border transport infrastructure; and

• the progress made on improving co-ordination between the Welsh Government and Department for Transport on cross-boundary issues and matters of strategic importance.

The Committee asks for written submissions on these and other relevant issues in accordance with the guidelines stated below. The deadline for written submissions is Thursday 12 April 2012. Public oral evidence sessions are expected to commence soon after.

Please note

Each submission should:

• begin with a short summary in bullet point form;

• have numbered paragraphs; and

• be in Word format or a rich text format with as little use of colour or logos as possible. Please do not send your submission as a PDF document.

• be no longer than 3, 000 words in length.

A copy of the submission should be sent by e-mail to welshcom@parliament.uk and marked “Cross-border Transport Connectivity”. An additional paper copy should be sent to: Welsh Affairs Committee House of Commons 7 Millbank London SW1P 3JA.

It would be helpful, for Data Protection purposes, if individuals submitting written evidence send their contact details separately in a covering letter. You should be aware that there may be circumstances in which the House of Commons will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please supply a postal address so a copy of the Committee’s report can be sent to you upon publication.

A guide for written submissions to Select Committees may be found on the parliamentary website at http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/witnessguide.pdf

Please also note that:

• Material already published elsewhere should not form the basis of a submission, but may be referred to within a proposed memorandum, in which case a hard copy of the published work should be included.

• Memoranda submitted must be kept confidential until published by the Committee, unless publication by the person or organisation submitting it is specifically authorised.

• Once submitted, evidence is the property of the Committee. The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to make public the written evidence it receives, by publishing it on the internet (where it will be searchable), by printing it or by making it available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure. The Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.

• Select Committees are unable to investigate individual cases.

Further information

Committee Membership is as follows: David T. C. Davies MP (Chair), Stuart Andrew MP, Guto Bebb MP, Geraint Davies MP, Jonathan Edwards MP, Nia Griffith MP, Mrs Siân C. James MP, Susan Elan Jones MP, Karen Lumley MP, Jessica Morden MP, Mr Robin Walker MP, Mr Mark Williams MP Specific

Committee Information: welshcom@parliament.uk tel: 020 7219 6189

Media Information: Jessica Bridges-Palmer bridgespalmerj@parliament.uk tel: 020 7219 0724 Committee Website: http://www.parliament.uk/welshcom

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Publications / Reports / Reference Material: Copies of all select committee reports are available from the Parliamentary Bookshop (12 Bridge St, Westminster, 020 7219 3890) or the Stationery Office (0845 7023474). Committee reports, press releases, evidence transcripts, Bills; research papers, a directory of MPs, plus Hansard (from 8.00 am daily) and much more, can be found on www.parliament.uk.