Transport Insights

To be fair to ministers, they are as capable of reannouncing and overstating spending promises on rail as they are with road schemes.

Take this non-announcement:

A generational UK Government commitment to modernise Welsh rail is set to support 12,000 jobs across Wales.

The Welsh and UK Government’s plan sets out a long-term commitment that will put an end to the previous government’s chronic chop-and-changing and underinvestment that held the country back for too long.

The Prime Minister is set to formally endorse the Transport for Wales vision for the future of Welsh rail today [Wednesday 18 February] – agreeing that it should set the framework for their pipeline of projects and committing the UK Government to work with the Welsh Government to deliver this pipeline as quickly as possible.

So, what exactly is going on?

This investment will see the further transformation of Wales’ rail network, building on the Welsh Government’s £1.1bn in upgrading and electrifying the Core Valley Lines and £800m investment in a new rail fleet. 

Together, both governments will provide better and more frequent services for passengers across the country, with the UK Government committing significant funding to deliver the next generation of Welsh rail projects.  

Using the almost half a billion pounds promised this Spending Review, seven new stations are set to be built across Wales – a massive win for commuters and a boost for the construction industry.

Ok, so you’ve reannounced some spending, including a “new rail fleet” that was announced nearly a decade ago, but what about the “long-term commitment”?

The UK Government endorses the TfW vision and agrees that it will form the basis of the Wales Rail Board’s pipeline of projects. UK Government also commits to working in partnership with the Welsh Government to deliver this pipeline as quickly as possible.

This represents a generational commitment to rail in Wales that began with the investments already made at the comprehensive spending review. 

While the total cost of that pipeline of projects will change over time as the industry and these schemes develop, TfW currently estimate the total cost of all the schemes under consideration to be up to £14 billion. The pipeline is a generational transformational commitment, with exact, additional UKG funding allocations to be confirmed at future Spending Reviews.

So we are basically back to the same situation as Northern Powerhouse Rail and other “commitments” – claiming that there is a lot of money coming but with future spending dependent on future allocations, therefore no commitment at all.

It’s almost as if Labour is desperate to say: vote for us in May’s Senedd elections and don’t let any other party mess this up.