North Wales railways need fair funding settlement, ministers told
The Government must invest more in north Wales’ railways in order for the region to get a “fair settlement”, ministers have been told.
Delyn MP Rob Roberts disputed claims from the Department for Transport (DfT) that North Wales was already getting its fair share of rail funding, and challenged ministers to correct this.
Mr Roberts, who was elected as a Conservative MP, now sits as an independent after parliamentary authorities found he had made unwanted advances towards a member of staff.
At Wales Questions in the Commons, he said: “When I asked the DfT about maintenance funding spent on the Wales route, they told me it gets 4% to 5% of the spending and it equates to 4% of the network so it must be fair.
“The problem is that the figures are based on train miles rather than track length, and the train miles are always lower in Wales because of lack of investment in infrastructure when the track length is actually 11%, not 4%.
“Will the minister make representations to the DfT to increase rail spending proportionately to make it a fairer settlement?”
Welsh Office minister Dr James Davies did not respond directly to the request, but said Mr Roberts was “right to reference investment in rail in North Wales”.
HS2
Shadow minister Gerald Jones had earlier called on the Government to ensure Wales gets a fair share of funding from HS2.
The Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney MP said: “Considering not a single mile of track of HS2 will reach Wales, and current services between Wales and England are woefully unreliable and expensive, what steps is the Secretary of State and the Government going to take to improve this and ensure that those living in Wales actually benefit from HS2?”
Welsh Secretary David TC Davies replied: “The HS2 project, which was of course proposed by the previous Labour government and is supported as far as I am aware by the Labour Opposition, will benefit passengers in North Wales.
“The Government is committed to passengers across the whole of Wales, which is why £390 million is being spent on a range of improvements and of course in addition to that we will shortly have the South Wales Metro system, which is part of the Cardiff Capital Region growth deal.”
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Looks as if old deviant ex-Tory MP Rob Roberts is trying to save his job with his insincere plea for North Wales to have its fair share of infrastructure funding even though the Tories have been in power for 13 years and he & they have done absolutely nothing for Wales but spend vast amounts of money on England. I think it’s far too late for both Wales and his career. Perhaps the North could have had a share of HS2 consequential denied only to Wales by your extremist partygoers in London in which David TC Davies stated how not… Read more »
Career? More like an obnoxious omnishambles, he should have faced a recall bye-election after his shenanigans.
A case of even stopped clock is right twice a day….unless that clock is David TC Davies who knows this is horribly unfair but has his eyes on House of Lords seat further down the line.
Nobody is interested in a word you have to say Mr Roberts, your time would better spent looking for gainful employment
How can David TC Davies claim, in all apparent sincerity that North Wales travellers will BENEFIT from HS2 when he knows, even if the track does finally pass through a tunnel under Crewe, that the junction point station is several miles NORTH of Crewe and that passengers will then, somehow, have to get back to Crewe Station? Look at the plans if you don’t believe me!!
Is this the same Rob Roberts who recently called for a referendum to abolish the Senedd? This is why we should be a fully self governing country!!! Yes Cardiff may seem far away to those in the North but it is far better represented in the Senedd than it would ever be in Westminster!!! David Davies excuse is rather pathetic. Instead of addressing the lack of rail funding Wales gets he shifts the blame on Labour. You don’t get to do that when your party has been in power for 13 years. I wonder what all those Tory MPs who… Read more »
No need for investment in the north as we have HS2…don’t we?