THERE is “no threat” to the 33 jobs at Machynlleth’s Arriva Trains Wales depot, with a councillor labelling the news a “huge relief” for the town.
With Arriva Trains Wales announcing it will no longer continue its bid to win the franchise for the new Wales and Borders Service from 2018, Machynlleth councillor Michael Williams had questioned whether the move would threaten the 33 jobs at the depot.
Speaking at a meeting of Aberystwyth Town Council last week, Cllr Alun Williams, who is Ceredigion County Council’s Cabinet member for transport, said he was optimistic for the future of jobs at the depot after attending two meetings where the matter was discussed.
He said: “There have been some concerns with job threats, particularly with the Machynlleth depot.
“There is no threat to jobs at all. This was discussed at last week’s TraCC meeting.”
Cllr Williams said he had been reassured after attending meetings of Trafnidiaeth Canolbarth Cymru – Regional Transport Consortium for the Mid Wales Region, or TraCC – and a liaison meeting between the Shrewsbury-Aberystwyth Rail Liaison Committee and the Cambrian Coast Line Conference.
He added: “Both meetings heard that existing rail jobs at Machynlleth would simply be transferred over to the new franchise holder under TUPE – Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations.”
Cllr M Williams told the Cambrian News he was at the same liaison meeting and heard the same “categorical assurance” that jobs were safe.
“We were assured that jobs at the depot would be transferred to the successful new franchisee,” he said.
“That is a huge relief for people in Machynlleth. These are all engineering jobs which are very good-quality jobs. It adds to the package of jobs in Machynlleth."See this week's Machynlleth & Llanidloes paper for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now