UK Government Minister claims rail in Wales is not underfunded

Martin Shipton

The long-running row over rail funding for Wales has taken a new turn with a UK Labour Minister accusing Plaid Cymru’s deputy leader of lying when she claimed that Welsh taxpayers were paying for new rail infrastructure in England.

Delyth Jewell, who is currently a regional Plaid Cymru MS representing South Wales East, posted a message to social media stating: “Wales is owed billions from Westminster in rail funding. We pay towards HS2 & the Oxford-Cambridge line, yet our own railways are underfunded.

“With those billions, we could reopen local lines across Wales. When will this outrage end?”

Chris Bryant, the Labour MP for Rhondda and Ogmore and Minister for Trade in Keir Starmer’s UK Government, responded on X stating: “Another lie. Wales spends more than it pays in tax. So we in Wales don’t pay anything for railways in England.

“We are net beneficiaries. Last year’s settlement for the Welsh Government was the biggest ever.”

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said in response to Mr Bryant: “This is another attempt by a Labour politician to muddy the waters and distract people in Wales from his party’s woeful record of denying our nation the funding it is owed. He knows full well that Wales is owed billions from projects such as HS2, Oxford-Cambridge and Northern Powerhouse Rail.

“Decades of rail underfunding by Westminster parties have held Wales back. Plaid Cymru is the only party that will always put Wales first and fight for what our nation deserves – and that’s exactly what a Plaid Cymru government would do after May’s election.”

Uplift

Following last year’s announcement by Chancellor Rachel Reeves of an uplift in rail infrastructure funding for Wales, Guto Ifan of Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre wrote: “In the briefings prior to today’s Spending Review, the main headline for Wales in the Spending Review would be that Welsh railways would benefit from £445m, with a briefing that ‘this investment is more than Wales would have had so far had HS2 been Barnettised’

“In today’s statement, the Chancellor announced that this £445m would be spread over ten years: six years longer than the period of the spending review period itself. It includes £48m for enhancements to the Core Valley lines over four years, responsibility for which is devolved to the Welsh Government. In the Spending Review documentation, there are specific mentions of the Borderlands Line and the Cardiff to Bristol line. Beyond this, there is no substantial detail on the profile of this funding in each year of the Spending Review period.

“Given the rail enhancement spending currently committed to projects across England, this level of funding would fall well below a population share for Wales over the next decade.

“Any suggestion that this funding in any way compensates Wales for the loss incurred from HS2 is obviously unsustainable. It does not substantially change the overall picture of underfunding of Welsh rail infrastructure.

“In February 2025, the Welsh Government estimated that the loss in consequentials from HS2 being classified as an England and Wales project (rather than an England-only project) was £431m, from 2016-17 up to and including 2025-26.]

“Applying the Welsh Government’s methodology to the Department for Transport settlement announced today, we estimate that the total loss from HS2 between 2016-17 and 2029-30 now stands at approximately £845m. Over the course of the next four years, Wales will lose more than £100m in capital funding every year because of HS2’s designation as an England and Wales project, and the cumulative loss will continue to grow significantly at future Spending Reviews.”