A new railway unit dedicated to improving North Wales' rail services has been launched in Llandudno.

Network Rail has teamed up with Transport for Wales and Avanti West Coast to create the Rheilffordd Gogledd Cymru or North Wales Railway.

The initiative aims to enhance the railway in North Wales by drawing on the experience of frontline staff and regularly bringing together local teams from across organisational boundaries.

The new unit covers the area served by the North Wales Coast and Conwy Valley Lines.

Heledd Walters, Network Rail programme manager for Rheilffordd Gogledd Cymru, said: "We had a well-attended and productive launch event in Llandudno, where we got all three organisations together in the same room and talked about the different challenges we experience in the North Wales area.

"The whole purpose of a local railways business model is to bring together people who know the challenges of the local area better than anyone else.

"It’s about empowering decision making, everything from customer experience to train performance."

The initiative follows the success of the Cambrian Local Railway and the Central and West Wales Local Railway elsewhere in Wales.

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Gwyn Rees, Network Rail Wales and Borders performance and transformation director said: "We’ve been operating the Cambrian Local Railway for about 18 months, and we’ve been delivering lots of small, incremental improvements that have really had a positive impact on staff engagement, customer service, and train performance."

The collaboration aims to make similar improvements in North Wales, focusing on train performance and customer service.

Colin Lea, Transport for Wales planning and performance director, said: "Local railway is about getting the local management teams together – in this case Network Rail, TfW and Avanti West Coast – to make the railway better through local ideas and innovations.

"There are long-term goals but also some short-term wins as well, such as improving performance along the North Wales Coast; looking at marginal gains we can make through the timetables; thinking about how we can provide better customer service and accessibility."

Owain Morgan, Avanti West Coast route performance manager (North West & Wales), said: "We’re committed to working with our industry partners to improve the service we offer to our customers.

"Central to that is our ability to share the challenges, and most importantly agree solutions locally that will deliver those incremental gains that will lead to a more reliable railway for customers travelling on the North Wales route."