Plans announced to ‘transform’ railways in Wales

Amelia Jones

Sir Keir Starmer has announced plans for seven new railway stations as part of a UK Government investment in Welsh rail.

The Prime Minister will formally endorse the Transport for Wales vision on Wednesday 18 February, setting it as the framework for future projects and committing to work with the Welsh Government to deliver them.

The plans build on £1.1bn invested by the Welsh Government to upgrade and electrify the Core Valley Lines, alongside £800m for new trains.

Seven new stations are proposed across Wales, funded through almost £500m from the latest Spending Review. They include Magor and Undy, Llanwern, Cardiff East, Newport West, Somerton, Cardiff Parkway and Deeside Industrial Park.

The controversial addition of Cardiff Parkway station on the eastern outskirts of Cardiff will aim to serve around 800,000 passengers a year and support around 6,000 jobs.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “For too long, Wales has been let down by a UK government unwilling to do the hard yards and build the future they deserve.

“This government is turning the page on historic dither and delay with seven new stations, thousands of jobs, and a generational commitment to build a rail network fit for Wales’ future.

“This isn’t tinkering nor sticking plasters. This is investment for the long term – and change communities will feel. This is putting Wales on the front foot and getting Britain building again.”

Unprecedented 

First Minister Eluned Morgan said: “We are now in an unprecedented position to deliver the next chapter of transformation for rail services in Wales. We have secured long-term commitments to key projects and a renewed ambition for our rail network.

“Changes of this scale don’t happen overnight but they do happen when there is vision, determination, and cooperation.

“We’ve already proved that with the Core Valley Lines, and we are beginning to see the same momentum with Network North Wales. When you have the ambition, the commitment and the will, real progress follows – and we have all three.

“Today marks another important milestone for rail as Transport for Wales publishes an exciting and essential pipeline for future investment. This includes projects the length and breadth of our nation.

“We warmly welcome the UK Government’s support for these plans and for their commitment to putting right the injustice of Welsh rail underfunding left by the previous government.

“In the near term, I’m pleased to see backing for the essential work at Padeswood and Buckley. This will transform journeys between Wrexham and Liverpool, unlock economic opportunities across north Wales, and allow plans for the new Deeside station to accelerate.

“I also welcome the UK Government’s support for Cardiff Parkway, and we remain committed to working closely with all partners to complete the full business case and development plans.”

Great opportunity 

Vernon Everitt, Chair of Transport for Wales, said: “Transport is an enabler of sustainable economic growth, higher productivity, access to homes, jobs and education as well as greater opportunity for all.

“Supporting the Welsh Government’s vision for transport and working with the UK Government, Today, Tomorrow, Together sets out an ambitious agenda to make further progress in these areas through investment in rail services as part of an integrated transport plan.

“In recent years we have delivered major improvements in transport for the people, businesses and communities we serve. This includes new trains and services, the wholesale transformation of the Core Valley lines and now significant enhancements to rail services as part of Network North Wales.

“We are also working hard to invest the funding allocated to Wales under the last spending review to bring further improvements to communities as quickly as possible.

“We now need to go further. Today we set out a potential pipeline of future projects which will bring further benefits across the whole of Wales, and I am thrilled that today the UK and Welsh Governments have backed this vision wholeheartedly.”

‘Old promises’

However, Plaid Cymru’s Westminster Leader Liz Saville Roberts MP said: “Today’s announcement will feel like déjà vu to many people in Wales. These stations were already announced in last year’s Spending Review, with funding spread over a decade. Reheating old promises is not the generational transformation Wales was promised.

“While investment in any part of our rail network is welcome, large parts of western and rural Wales remain overlooked, with slow and infrequent services and poor north to south connectivity continuing to hold communities back.

“Wales has been systematically short-changed on rail for decades, not least through the misclassification of HS2, which has deprived us of billions of pounds in consequential funding.

“Without correcting that injustice and devolving rail infrastructure powers in full, Wales will continue to be reliant on short-term funding cycles and overhyped announcements from Westminster.

“A truly transformative approach would mean fair funding, full powers over rail, and a rail strategy that serves the whole of Wales.”

The Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Transport and Infrastructure, Sam Rowlands MS added: “While we welcome investment in rail across Wales, rail funding has been cut by more than half under Labour compared to what was delivered by the previous UK Conservative Government

“After more than £1bn has already been spent on the South Wales Metro, it is disappointing that there is still no commitment to follow through with UK Conservative Government plans to electrify the North Wales Main Line, a project that businesses and communities have long called for.

“Labour cannot rewrite history – the Conservatives have consistently delivered for Wales, and this announcement fails to recognise the rail funding provided by the previous UK Conservative Government.”

Welsh Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick said: “No new funding has actually been committed today; with the Government desperately reheating old announcements to try and win votes ahead of the Senedd elections.

“Beyond the schemes funded in the Spending Review, the additional projects being talked about have no allocated funding and no delivery timetable. They amount to a long-term wish list rather than UK Government investment.

“Unless Welsh Labour MPs back my amendment to devolve rail powers, the structural funding scandals that have already cost Wales billions will continue long into the future.”