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UK Government confirms it doesn’t know how much Welsh rail electrification would cost

By Mark Mansfield
David Chadwick speaking in Parliament

New information obtained by the Welsh Liberal Democrats has revealed that neither the Wales Office nor the UK Government Department for Transport knows how much electrifying the North and South Wales mainlines would cost.

The UK Government confirmed via a Freedom of Information response to Welsh Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick that it holds no data on the estimated costs of the electrification of the North Wales Mainline, while the most recent estimate it has for the South Wales Mainline is from 2017, prior to the project being cancelled.

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'Levelling up'

The previous Conservative Government at Westminster announced its support for rail electrification in Wales, especially as part of its “levelling up” agenda. However, no actual figures or cost assessments appear to have been commissioned or retained—suggesting, Mr Chadwick observed, “these promises were never seriously pursued”.

In 2017, plans to electrify the South Wales Main Line between Cardiff and Swansea were scrapped by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.

While electrification from London to Cardiff was completed, plans to upgrade the remaining 40 miles to Swansea were abandoned. Mr Grayling claimed bi-mode trains would deliver the same benefits, a claim that has since been widely criticised.

North Wales Main Line electrification was also announced by the Tories, with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing in 2021 that the line from Crewe to Holyhead would be upgraded. But no funding was ever allocated, no timeline confirmed, and no business case advanced.

The line remains reliant on outdated diesel services.

The Liberal Democrats argue that without any up-to-date estimated costs held by the Wales Office or Department for Transport, neither project is realistically close to being delivered.

This is despite Labour’s Wales Secretary Jo Stevens describing fair rail funding as her “number one” priority ahead of the upcoming Spending Review, expected this autumn.

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Staggering

Responding to the FOI requests, David Chadwick said:"This admission is as staggering as it is revealing. For all the headlines, the Conservatives never even priced up rail electrification in Wales.

“Worse still, there’s no sign that Labour is any more serious about delivering despite such statements from Jo Stevens. Without costings, these projects are clearly nowhere near shovel-ready.

“Electrification is about more than trains. It’s about boosting our economy, connecting key ports and industries to make them competitive in global markets; cutting emissions, and connecting communities.

“Failing to invest in Welsh rail is not just a missed opportunity—it’s a deliberate political choice to keep Wales at the back of the queue.

“The Welsh Liberal Democrats will continue to fight for a fair deal on rail funding for Wales.”

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11 comments

Bart

Presumably electrification of the North Wales Mainline is on the agenda so they can run HS2 trains to Holyhead and argue that Wales now benefits from HS2 and no further consequential is needed. Unfortunately that doesn't solve the disbenefit to south Wales caused by giving the north of England a competitive boost. For that, they'll need to knock at least 40 minutes off the 3 hour trip between Swansea and London which'll take more than just finishing electrification.

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Ap Kenneth

It might be on the agenda, but appears as the last item.

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Peter J

I think the last governments electrification plan was primarily just to try shore up votes along the north Wales coast before the last GE. There was never a business plan, costing etc. It was used to justify the cut backs on HS2 - they suggested smaller projects around the UK. But imagine if the Tories has actually got in! All of these wishful promises and tax cuts would have been binned straightaway

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Y Cymro

Well rail electrification was last promised by the lying English Conservatives in their preelection bung to the voters in North Wales and said it was cost £1 billion to build, this then disputed by the then Welsh Secretary David TC Davies who said it would be more but didn't say how much. And why prey tell? I was never going to happen. They took voters for mugs. And we now have a similar preelection situation where Welsh Labour Transport Minister Ken Skates is doing the same by promising those again in North Wales that they will get rail infrastructure with the hope that UK Labour will give additional funding. They will not. See, Wales is not England. I wish voters would wake up? A question. Which country desperately needs its infrastructure improving. Wales with its lack of interconnectivity, or England that's been terraformed over the years with the proviso that it's beneficial to Britain. Answer. England. Not my opinion. Numerous UK Governments. Imagine this scenario. You see someone hungry but opt to feed someone obese instead. That Whitehall's logic when it comes to chooses to spend hundreds of billions on England always to the detriment of Wales. An example. When Wales held the rugby world cup we had a sparkler and two aircraft fly over the millennium stadium costing literally pennies. Cardiff's road and rail infrastructure wasn't transformed with UK Government funding , oh but when London i.e England held the 2012 Olympics the UK Government spent £8.7 billion. Understand what I mean now. Also, how many times has England held the Commonwealth games and other tournaments where UK Government funding has been put into beefing up its infrastructure? Too many times to count. The one and only time Wales held the Commonwealth games was in 1958 and it was held on a shoestring budget. And to add salt to our open wound, recently UK Labour released funding to London totalling £10 billion to join that white elephant HS2 from Birmingham to London Euston station. And we couldn't afford to spend £1.4 billion on a M4 relief road as our £1 billion borrowing powers wouldn't stretch that far. I want the best for Wales and its people, and until we start opening out eyes to the two tier system, both Labour & Conservative UK Governments will continually take us for fools.

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Owain Morgan

Or 'Reform' Government. The way things are going we'll be living with a Neo-Fascist Government in London before long.

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Valley girl

The English Government seems to have a bottomless pit given what they have spent on rail infrastructure in England.. Why would cost matter at all?

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Owain Morgan

Because it's the English Government, not the Welsh Government! The English Government doesn't care about Wales. Never has and never will.

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Hal

It needs to be abolished.

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simhedges

I live in Devon, and the UK government has just planned a number of projects here. So no bottomless pit. And if the pit were bottomless, the HS2 project to Leeds and Manchester would not have been cancelled.

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Hal

The original post probably should've said a bottomless pit for south east England. £10bn for yet another tunnel under the London Thames has just been found.

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Charles Coombes

Or anything to do with railways!

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Leave a reply

Replying to simhedges Cancel

I live in Devon, and the UK government has just planned a number of projects here. So no bottomless pit. And if the pit were bottomless, the HS2 project to Leeds and Manchester would not have been cancelled.

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