Liberal Democrats table amendment to devolve rail to Wales

Emily Price 

The Liberal Democrats have tabled a major amendment to the Railways Bill calling for the full devolution of rail powers to Wales, putting the country on an equal footing with Scotland.

The amendment would remove rail infrastructure from the list of powers reserved to Westminster and require the UK Government to fully transfer responsibility for rail infrastructure, services, and funding to Welsh ministers within two years.

The move comes after both the Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru warned that Wales has been “systematically short-changed on rail investment, losing out on billions of pounds” as major rail projects based entirely in England have been classified as “England and Wales” schemes.

Last year there was outrage when the UK Government confirmed that the multi-billion pound Oxford and Cambridge rail line would be classed as an England and Wales project.

It meant that despite East West Rail being entirely in England, Wales would not receive Barnett consequentials from the project.

It came amid ongoing questions about the classification of the controversial HS2 rail scheme which was also earmarked as “England and Wales” despite not crossing the border.

Despite having its own Parliament and transport strategy, Wales currently has less control over its railways than Scotland, and no meaningful powers to prevent funding being diverted away from Welsh priorities.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats say the Railways Bill fails to fix this imbalance and instead risks locking in Whitehall control, leaving Wales dependent on consultation rather than real authority.

By tabling the amendment, the party says it is drawing a clear line in the sand that Wales should have the same powers over its railways as Scotland, “no more, no less”.

The party has urged all Welsh Labour MPs to sign the amendment.

The Liberal Democrats have 72 MPs in Parliament, but would need other MPs, including Welsh Labour MPs to back the amendment should it be selected for a vote.

‘Fairness’

Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster Spokesperson David Chadwick MP said: “Wales has been treated as an afterthought when it comes to rail for far too long. While Scotland has the powers to plan, fund and deliver its own rail network, Wales is left with crumbs and warm words by both Labour and the Conservatives.

“This amendment is about fairness. It would give Wales the same control Scotland already has and stop us losing out on billions of pounds for rail projects that don’t even touch Welsh soil.

“If the Government is serious about treating Wales as an equal partner in the Union, it should back this amendment.”

The Rail Bill Committee will begin considering amendments and new clauses from January 19th onwards.

‘Not sure’

During First Minister’s Questions on Tuesday (January 20), Baroness Eluned Morgan said she “wants money” from the UK Government for Welsh rail, adding that there was “unfairness in the system”.

She said: “We are a government that is committed to the devolution of rail infrastructure.

“It is important though that we recognise that if we want that, that the money follows.

“Because if you have it, without the money, you are setting yourself up for disaster.

“Let me be clear, I will keep pushing the UK Government on this. The deal we have had so far is an improvement on what we had before but it needs to go a lot further.”

‘Not sure’

Earlier this month the Welsh Government was accused of reversing its position on rail devolution after a senior Labour minister said she was “not sure” Wales wants rail powers devolved from Westminster.

Julie James, the Welsh Government’s Minister for Delivery, made the comments during an interview with BBC Wales, appearing to step back from Labour’s long-standing position in Wales that full rail devolution is necessary to address chronic underfunding.

“I’m not sure we’re wanting the devolution of it,” she said.

“Really what we want is the funding formulas to be right and the organisation of it to be right so that we have a loud voice for Wales in what is done in Wales and actually we have a very good working relationship with the UK government about which railway stations will be invested in.

“I’m not a separatist politician at all. I want to work inside the UK infrastructure. It’s very important to me that the Great Western Railway line goes all the way to London seamlessly, you know, I don’t want it to only work to the border.

“If you did devolve the whole of rail infrastructure to Wales, you’d want to be really certain that all the money that you needed for that came with, I’d be very concerned whether that would happen as a one off event.”

The Welsh Government has previously described rail devolution as a “process rather than an event”, but Julie James’s remarks intensified claims that Labour is retreating from the principle altogether.