LIKE me, Argus readers will be pleased that finally a commitment to electrify the Paddington to Swansea line and the Valleys Lines was made by the UK government earlier this year.

A decision that means journey times will be slashed and new trains with more carriages can be used to increase capacity and comfort.

This welcome news does mean, however, that the Welsh Government needs to act quickly to extend the Valleys Lines before work to electrify the lines begins.

Respected transport professor at the University of Glamorgan Stuart Coles issued a warning to that effect recently.

He pointed out that extending the local lines – such as the proposed extension to Ebbw Vale town centre – would prove incredibly costly if the work was carried out after electrification.

In reality, this means that the Welsh Government has a year, or less, to commit to extending Valleys Lines.

Waiting too long will cause not just financial burdens but also pose practical difficulties, such as returning electrification staff and equipment at a later date.

I hope the Welsh Government will seize the tremendous opportunity that electrification offers.

They need to commit as soon as possible to extending the Valleys Lines, making their intentions clear to passengers and providing a long-term plan for passenger rail services in our area.

And speaking of long-term plans, I was pleased to attend an event to mark the publication of an important study that proposes changes to how the rail network in this country is run.

At present Arriva Trains Wales run the Wales and Borders franchise and this is up for renewal in 2018.

The report A People’s Railway for Wales was commissioned by several organisations, including the Cooperative movement, and makes a number of recommendations, including many that my own party has been calling for for some time.

The main area of consensus surrounds how the franchise should operate after 2018.

I share the view that a not-for-profit company, at arms length from the government, should run our railway network.

The benefits of this would mean that services are planned on the basis of what’s best for passengers and the economy.

It also means that any profits made are ploughed back into services rather than being paid out to shareholders.

We should grasp the opportunity to put our railways on the right track for the long term.