£810 million railway upgrade proposed
Nicholas Thomas, local democracy reporter
Building work on a series of new railway stations in and around Newport will begin in 2026, according to the latest proposals.
A new report by the Burns Delivery Board shows the stations will form the backbone of major public transport improvements for the city, promised as an alternative to the scrapped M4 relief road.
Relief tracks on the South Wales main line will be converted to carry passenger trains, and three new stations are proposed between Cardiff Central and Newport.
Walkway station
Three more – including a pioneering “walkway” station for Magor and Undy – will be built between Newport and Severn Tunnel Junction.
Ken Skates, the Welsh Government’s cabinet secretary for transport, said the new stations, if built, will “allow millions of new train journeys each year” and form part of an “absolutely transformational project” for the city and surrounding areas.
The order in which the new stations will be built has not yet been decided, but it is expected the first will be finished in 2027 and the last completed in 2030.
The report also shows when other branches of the city’s transport overhaul are expected to begin and be completed.
Transport interchange
These include work in 2025 and 2026 to turn Newport’s main railway station into an “interchange” for buses and trains, and the “reconfiguring” of Old Green Roundabout into a signal-controlled junction.
Work to build a “sustainable transport corridor” along the A48 between Cardiff and Newport could begin in 2025 and take five years to complete, adding dedicated bus lanes to the road and leading to “high frequency, reliable services and high passenger capacity”.
An upgrade of the nearby NCN88 cycle route is also tabled in 2025, and is projected to end in 2027 – as is work to improve walking and cycling access to Severn Tunnel Junction from neighbouring villages.
Finally, new bus lanes for Malpas Road could be installed in 2027 and 2028.
The project will cost an estimated £810m, comprising a £425m contribution from the Welsh Government and £385m from the UK Government.
The new report notes the improvements around Newport “can be realised for just 1% of the cost” of HS2, in a swipe at the previous Conservative governments in Westminster, which refused to reclassify that project as England-only and hand consequential funding to Wales.
M4 pressures
Commenting on the new report, the Welsh Conservatives’ shadow transport minister Natasha Asghar said her party would “welcome any efforts to ease congestion on our roads, [but] it is clear that Labour have no immediate plans to relieve the pressures on the M4 around the Brynglas Tunnels”.
“Labour abandoned the M4 relief road in 2019 having spent £157m on drawing up proposals, leaving motorists in South Wales gridlocked,” she added. “It is clear their suggested alternatives are moving far too slowly – despite claims of progress, real solutions like new stations and infrastructure are years away.
“The Welsh Government must axe their war on motorists and get on with delivering sensible infrastructure projects to get Wales moving.”
Then-first minister Mark Drakeford tasked Lord Terry Burns with leading a commission to identify transport improvements, following the decision to abandon the relief road motorway project on cost and environmental grounds.
The so-called Burns Commission decided public transport improvements would deliver the desired benefits for residents and commuters – and was also behind the decision to replace the variable speed cameras on the M4 in Newport with a fixed 50mph average speed limit zone.
This story has been amended to reflect that the projects are proposals rather than a formal announcement.
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The Golden Rivet this week goes to the 10 miles between Cardiff and Newport…
£810 million…
Just think. You could catch a train every 10 minutes on that 10 mile stretch, or maybe there will be trains scheduled at 10 minute intervals but only turn up intermittently. Happy days in the Labour world of underperformance.
And in 14 years of your government in Westminster what did they do apart from starving Wales of their rightful dues.
And what about us here in the North?? re-connect the Afon Wen line (Bangor to Pwllheli) and travel around the North would be much better and give some better connections to Mid and South Wales too
You too far away from the Cardiff echo chamber. They can’t hear or don’t listen to your calls.
Forget about the idea of building a rail link for Bangor to Pwllheli. The latter is a tiny place in the grand scheme of things and, if you’re going from Bangor to somewhere like Machynlleth or Newtown in the middle of Wales, it’s taking you in the wrong direction. Bangor to Porthmadog might make sense, but going via Afon Wen is NOT a logical route between those two places.
How else would you get to Porthmadog from Bangor?
Well, really I should have said Caernarfon to Porthmadog rather than Bangor, because any new link would start by delivering Bangor to Caernarfon. Anyway; Porthmadog is south-east of Caernarfon so how about travelling south-east rather than going via Afon Wen which is at-best due south of Caernarfon and probably slightly south-west. Without building any new infrastructure that would be done by an express bus service along the A487. Compare the route of the A487 with the old rail route via Afon Wen on a good map and you should see what I am getting at. Now that the A487 exists… Read more »
Anywhere too much he north or west of Penybont ar Ogwr can go to hell or so it seems with the Labour bunch
To be fair, those of us who campaigned against the ludicrous M4 relief road can hardly complain when they propose a carbon-friendly and cheaper alternative.
Have u forgoton what the tories have done over the last decade
And how on earth does this make up for the non existent M4 relief road? And by the time this rail gets started the costs will have increased astronomically, which will mean cuts to everything else.
Where is the evidence to suggest that these local stations will ease congestion on the M4? Surely the majority of journeys on the M4 are long distance/cross border, not local? So how will 3 local stations between Newport and Severn Tunnel bring any of the benefits that a relief road would have?
The evidence is in the Burns report.
There is no convincing evidence on this in the report. Suburban stations typically handle a few hundred passengers a day. Many of the journeys from new stations would not be ones that would otherwise have used the M4. Traffic flows on the M4 are around 100,000 a day and growing. Do the math.
Too many people in S.E Wales use M4 as their rat run. Minor roads already jammed and get more jammed up when there are major incidents on M4.
Another bundle of cash available for the south east of Cymru. £810,000,000, wow!!! Whatever the south east wants the south east gets. Train users are in the minority when it comes to commuting. The majority use cars and lorries. How about filling in some potholes and resurfacing roads throughout Cymru instead. Other life exists outside Caerdydd and Casnewydd.
“Train users are in the minority when it comes to commuting. The majority use cars and lorries”. Here’s an idea, provide more train services and stations and that may change. But you appear to be against that.
There is nowhere in the developed world with a geography like Wales where public transport accounts for anything other than a tiny share of travel.
Switzerland
That won’t change.. go to Severn tunnel junction and look at the new car park they built there with ev stations etc. None of it used.. is they make transport affordable and to get you where you need to go people might use it.. that’s the issue. What they try to do is make driving a car more expensive to try to force you to use public transport.. it’s a nonsense
Because they haven’t yet opened a direct junction with the M4 that has a big sign saying “park and ride”.
The only reliable way to remove congestion from roads is building viable alternatives to driving. Funding those alternatives is not a “war on motorists” – it helps everyone in the long run, especially those with no choice but to drive. Typical of the Conservatives to present it as an us vs them when it’s anything but.
This is not right. Countries with very good public transport and high levels of cycling such as the Netherlands and Switzerland still have high traffic levels. If they have less congestion that is probably because they also have better road networks than Wales.
Imagine what the traffic levels in those countries would be without their good public transport systems and cycle paths. Something like the brynglas tunnels? We all need better alternatives to driving our cars everywhere. I drive to work on Mondays and I cycle to work on Wednesdays to Fridays. I love my cycle ride as it takes me through the gwent levels. It takes 30 minutes longer one way, but it is worth it. But change took me a while.
Cycling is great if you like it. Car ownership in the Netherlands is at similar levels to Wales. Cycling there is used mainly for short journeys and is reflected in low bus use and low car occupancy (cyclists seem to be people who would otherwise be car passengers rather than drivers). The Netherlands has a very extensive motorway network- Wales has one of the lowest motorway densities in Europe.
Unless you are fortunate enough to own an electric car, driving a fuel car will continue to damage the climate. Even electric cars are not without sin but are less damaging to the environment. It is always worth looking at effective ways to reduce car use. Rather than building a massive business park to the east of Cardiff, build it on the Llanwern site, a large brownfield site to the east of newport. It will benefit newport residents. It is adjacent to the train lines, so a station can be built there and linked to the proposed stations along the… Read more »
Llanwern is going to be housing.
Should be both
Jim, this is not quite right. I suggest you check out the YouTube channel called “Not Just Bikes”. It explained how in the 1970s the Netherlands made drastic changes to limit the number of cars, which in turn mate other transport options not viable and better. You are absolutely right that these countries still have cars – rejoining cars completely isn’t an option, but the fact that there are fewer cars on the road makes driving much more pleasant in those countries! This video explains why the Netherlands is the best country for driving in the world! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d8RRE2rDw4k
All part of the plan to get cars off the roads while drivers can either walk, run, cycle, or catch publicity funded busses trains or trams whilst happily singing songs living in utopia. Untill then we will all have to struggle with local services being cut to build 10 miles of track.
Is worth remembering that all tandoori us publicly funded. The M4 relief router was expected to cost £1bn, and today, road maintenance costs about £4.5bn per year. Not saying this money shouldn’t be spent, but cars and roads are also publicly funded. I think it makes sense to say: how about we use some of that money we’d normally use for roads on other forms of public transport? Especially if in the long run it’s cheaper
Will the £310m contributed by the UK government be considered as compensation for the non-payment of £4bn to Cymru for HS2 project? The Secretary of State for Cymru will be very pleased.
If they can find this money for these local stations, why can’t they find the money to fund a commuter station on the outskirts of East Cardiff? They want private funding for a massive mainline station. Why? The costs for this type of station has quadrupled from 30 million in 2020 to 120 million pounds in 2024. The private consortium are being enticed be allowing to build massive office towers in East Cardiff on the gwent levels. I don’t think they will finance this massive station so it will fall to the tax payer anyway. A commuter station would be… Read more »
I think one of the planned new stations between Cardiff and Newport IS a commuter station in east Cardiff (I think it’s in the Splott/Pengam/Tremorfa area. Assuming you aren’t talking about that one but about Cardiff Parkway, then I agree; it shouldn’t be a big mainline station. The mainline trains to/from Manchester, London, Portsmouth, Wrexham etc. SHOULDN’T be stopping ANYWHERE between Cardiff Central and Newport if you ask me. As for why Cardiff Parkway is like that, I have a feeling it was originally promoted by the private sector (as a sweetener to try and get Government backing for their… Read more »
So far the only intercity services that plan to stop are the Grand Union trains which will run non-stop to London after Bristol so there’s no impact on journey time. But why shouldn’t there be a parkway station for Cardiff so people who don’t live near public transport can access long distance services without having to first drive into a city centre.
So this parkway station is really being constructed for the benefit of out of town car owners?
It has many benefits.
Not really for the local residents. More traffic and pollution for us, large business tower blocks overlooking our properties, increased flood risk and a long time construction and disruption period. Let alone how much we the taxpayers have to fund this.
Don’t forget the new rail connection will boost property values and attract new wealthier residents keen to benefit from the 7 minute commute into Cardiff and the direct service to London. That extra disposable income will mean more local facilities such as shops and cafes can open.
After our houses are flooded as this gigantic tower block takes most of the flood plain away, our houses are worth zilch. It is over a 20 to 30 minute walk from most homes to the proposed site. Any actual resisdent would know that. So quicker and cheaper commute by bus. Most of thoese driving in to the station to travel to london will most likely just park outside the streets rather than pay for parking and make it harder to residents to move around.
I’m guessing you’ve never commuted by rail before. Even in the heart of London it’s normal to have a 20 minute walk to the nearest tube station. And of course a 20-30 minute walk is a 6-7 minute cycle. What’s proposed for CP is a commuters gift especially if Crossrail terminates here, guaranteeing every local a seat.
Good case made for a public funded commuter station.
By that I assume you imagine two platforms to the north and south of the existing lines without any realignment. That arrangement wouldn’t be able to terminate Crossrail services and your “good case” loses a turn up and go service, easy access to the bay and guaranteed seats. Instead your “good case” means fewer services that may arrived packed during busy times. And if the planned works to run passenger services on freight lines don’t happen (which may not be value for money without CP) your commuter station with a “good case” may only have an hourly service because it… Read more »
Similar commuter station to what they are proposing near Rumney.
I assume you mean the Newport Road/Rover Way station which isn’t Rumney and is where Cardiff Crossrail will terminate without CP. There should be another stop in Rumney which could be two platforms and be used by Crossrail – but only if that service can terminate at CP.
Copy the initial designs for st mellons. St mellons residents deserve their own commuter station without gigantic office towers
What initial designs? Perhaps you could summarise them.
You already mentioned them: the station proposed at rover way if parkway is not built. Build that station at parkway. It is not a mainline station.
So no Crossrail and probably no GWR regional services and probably no upgrade of the freight lines so perhaps an hourly service. How’s that good for commuters?
Links to Cardiff, newport and Bristol, Change platforms for services further away.
GWR have said they’re not stopping at CP so Bristol won’t be an option. The only chance GWR change their view on this is if Crossrail runs to CP and their customers can change here for the bay. As for the links to Cardiff and Newport an hourly service is all that’s likely to happen without the mentioned upgrade. That isn’t good for commuters. Anyone who’s ever commuted by rail knows you need a frequent service and a choice of operators so you can still get to work even when there are cancellations or operator specific problems like strikes.
If the commuter station is built, then the operators will provide a more frequent train service. Train services will be under government control by then.
Not without the investment in the tracks which isn’t value for money in Whitehall’s eyes, just so deprived areas outside Cardiff and Newport can have a better service. Be grateful for the crumbs is their motto. I’m guessing you don’t much like your neighbours trying so hard to deny them better transport links.
The investment in the tracks is separate from the Cardiff Parkway proposals and is a prerequisite for any of the new ‘commuter’ stations. Thus if Cardiff Parkway was built to that spec (two platforms) this would have to be done alongside the infrastructure upgrade and the more-frequent stopping services (some of which are planned to run to Bristol) would be perfectly possible.
You could build the local stations without the track upgrade and save a lot of money. But you wouldn’t get the turn up and go service without the extra capacity.
People who don’t live near a station could still drive to Cardiff Parkway, catch a local stopping train to Newport or Cardiff Central and then change onto long distance services. No need for four platforms at Cardiff Parkway, just two (on whichever pair of tracks end up as the ones used by local stopping services). Even if only Grand Union have confirmed plans to stop so far, I seem to remember promotional material claiming a frequency of service for Cardiff Parkway that would only be achievable if practically every train stops there. It’s not so much the journey time implication… Read more »
According to reports Grand Union services are all prebooked seats so couldn’t be used for someone to hop on to go one stop without buying a ticket with a reservation. And you won’t get the benefits of Crossrail without four platforms. If it turns out, and you don’t know otherwise because it hasn’t been funded yet, that the track upgrade is only seen as value for money with the CP proposal, you could end up with no track upgrade and an hourly service from all the new local stations. And who drives to a park and ride for an hourly… Read more »
Yes, it’s true that I don’t know what would officially be considered ‘value for money’. However, I very much doubt building the new local stations for just an hourly service would be value for money. The actual construction cost of a local station is likely to be similar regardless of which two tracks are used, and selecting the relief lines (allowing frequent services) provides much greater benefits. I think the only additional cost is upgrading the speed limit. As for ‘Cardiff Crossrail’ I really cannot see why that would need platforms on the main (intercity) lines at Cardiff Parkway. All… Read more »
Would love for Mr Skates to come and “enjoy” any of the train journeys west of Swansea! Always left until last!
I live in Pembrokeshire and the journey from Haverfordwest to Swansea is primitive
Actually, in this case Haverfordwest and Milford Haven are getting 1 or 2 (maybe even 3) additional trains per day in December (2024). It is the Cambrian Coast Line further north in the west of Wales that isn’t just being left until last by Mr Skates but actually having services removed from the timetable.
About as much use as a pushbike to a goldfish.
Even if it all works as advertised none of us could afford the fares.
So you are clearly against investing on any railway infrastructure in Wales.
A rail link from Pontypool to Bala would be lovely and a decent subsidised bus service thanks.
This announcement isn’t for a wonderful investment in infrastructure, it’s our sop for the many, many billions spent on HS2, The Victoria line and the new Lower Thames Tunnel all equally useless to most Cymry.
Nicholas, this is not what the Cabinet Secretary announced?? There was no funding announcement today. It is a prospectus document!!
That will be a wonderful substitute and a great relief to HGVs and tourists heading for West Wales or Ireland
How is the loneliest carpark in Wales going the rail parkway for Severn Tunnel.
Why do we need office towers in Cardiff outskirts, most want to work from home now.
It’s waiting for a direct connection to the M4.
Invest money for trains for people who can’t afford the fares or need to commute to work as working from home is the norm now. The only people who’ll benefit from this system will be the drug dealers where they can easily convey drugs up and down the valleys quicker and easier from the cities thank you the welsh assembly. Also with all the shop owners closing down in wales who wants to travel to towns which are ghost towns???? What a total waste of money.
Only the Welsh government would be daft enough to believe this is a suitable alternative to the relief road , which means a substantial amount of money will be wasted and you can be absolutely certain it will cost far more than the suggested figure . Add that to the money they have already wasted not building the road and the loss of income to Wales as a result and it suggests they really are economically illiterate.
Absolutely nothing for North Wales what a surprise
Would you have been happier with perhaps £4bn spent on a relief road? Because that’s what this is replacing.
What a waste of money. Newport is not that important.
Welsh Government has its priorities all wrong. Infrastructures, eg, roads, schools, are crumbling. Major problems with social care & the NHS that wastes billions of pounds a year, eg, delayed discharge, total bed capacity(including the private sector). There is no root cause analysis or strategic direction to improve quality & lower costs. There is an acute shortage of skills, so what are the Welsh Government doing about it? Absolutely nothing as usual.
Samt why is I labour are getting the blame for everything have we forgotten what the Conservative Party have done to the UK Labour are trying to clear up their mess.
How many towns of over 10,000 people in Wales have zero rail connections whatsoever? Transport in Britain as a whole is an utter disgrace.
They upgraded the New Inn station and finished the building work over 18 months ago and it still not open. That’s just one station. Can’t they just start and finish one job before moving on to the next….
If you want to get people off the M4 that should include a Swansea parkway on the Swansea district line asap.
Which Swansea Parkway and what trains would call there? Most of the proposals I’ve seen for new stations on the Swansea District Line (SDL) only make sense to me as part of a wider Swansea Metro with multiple new stations along the SDL and new metro services (eg. Ammanford – SDL (western section) – Jersey Marine – Swansea and Llanelli – SDL – Bridgend) calling at all stations. The only way an SDL Parkway station would make sense to me as a standalone project would be a Tawe Valley Parkway located at Junction 45 of the M4 (A4067 and B4603).… Read more »
Grand Union services between Carmarthen and London plan to stop at a Parkway station so they can bypass Swansea Central to save 20 mins.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-63819582
That ‘Felindre Parkway’ (near junction 46 of the M4) is one of the proposals which I think only makes sense for a local stopping (Metro) service. I’m not sure what Grand Union think calling there would achieve – they can already bypass Swansea High Street (I don’t think Swansea has ever had a station called Swansea Central) without building any new stations. If they were proposing a station at Junction 45 they would have a reasonable catchment area both in the immediate area around the station and by road up the Tawe Valley, generating a reasonable amount of revenue. However,… Read more »
It’s also been widely referred to as Swansea North Parkway which, along with other proposed metro stations likely bearing the name Swansea, makes Swansea Central an obvious new name for the High Street station. West Wales Parkway seems to be used alternately to highlight the potential to serve the wider region. I’m not sure why you’re opposed to having intercity services call at a parkway station if they want to or why you’d prefer to force people from across the region to drive into the centre of an urban area first instead of using a station right next to a… Read more »
I wasn’t trying to argue against the general concept of having a parkway station next to a motorway junction. I would be in favour of InterCity services serving a parkway station at Junction 45. It is the Junction 46 proposal that I have concerns about. In this specific case, Felindre (J46) would involve people from Pembrokeshire and Carmarthen driving further than if they just drove to Carmarthen station. A parkway station at J45, on the other hand, would serve a different region; people would be driving to it from a different region: the Tawe valley. Since that is a catchment… Read more »
They can still drive to Carmarthen if that suits them better.