Stations funded as Welsh rail prospectus sets out long-term aspirations

UK: With elections for the Welsh Sennedd approaching in May, the UK government has confirmed funding under its most recent spending review process for construction of seven new stations across Wales.

Of these, five are the so-called ‘Burns stations’ proposed following a review chaired by Lord Burns into transport links between Cardiff and the Severn Estuary following cancellation of a major road scheme to alleviate congestion on the M4 motorway. The stations are planned for Magor & Undy; Llanwern; Cardiff East; Newport West; and Somerton. According to a statement by the UK Department for Transport on February 18, work is expected to start on all five later this year, with Magor & Undy expected to be the first to be completed.

South Wales main line spending

A total of £445m was allocated to rail in Wales in the most recent spending review, with DfT adding that £40m of this would be ringfenced for the upgrading of the Relief Lines that run in the Cardiff – Severn Tunnel Junction corridor. These are to be renewed to facilitate development of the Burns stations while supporting an increase in traffic over the largely four-track main line which is used by inter-city and inter-regional passenger services and by some residual freight trains. A full business case is due to be finalised in mid-2026.

A further station is also envisaged to be built at Cardiff Parkway, but this is to be taken forward largely using private developer funding.

However, the UK government money will be used to support the construction of a new station at Deeside Industrial Park on the Wrexham – Bidston line. This is to be taken forward as part of a package of enhancement to increase traffic on the route while also more effectively segregating cement trains from passenger services.

Welsh rail vision

On the same day as the station funding was confirmed, Transport for Wales and the Welsh government published a prospectus for what it hopes will underpin the next wave of investment in rail services in the principality.

Entitled ‘Today, Tomorrow, Together’, the document contains a mixture of previously announced projects and future aspirations, which together have an indicative value of around £14bn.

Commenting on the publication of the document, TfW Chair Vernon Everitt said ’Today, Tomorrow, Together sets out an ambitious agenda [to] bring further benefits across the whole of Wales, and I am thrilled that today the UK and Welsh governments have backed this vision wholeheartedly’. In its statement, DfT said the UK government ‘endorses the TfW vision’, and it confirmed that a Wales Rail Board would ‘oversee delivery of this pipeline of projects, with membership including Welsh and UK governments, TfW and Network Rail’.

Towards ‘GBR Cymru’

Writing in the foreword of the document, TfW Chief Executive James Price notes that ‘with Great Britain-level [rail] reform at a critical juncture, we have an opportunity to design a better operating model in Wales. It’s important that all parts of the Welsh rail industry work to one plan, with shared objectives. Rail infrastructure exists to move people and goods safely — so it makes sense that Network Rail in Wales or, in future, GBR Cymru works to a shared set of priorities, aligned with the Welsh government’s own vision for transport, housing and economic development.’

While the vision covers a number of projects that are already funded or advanced in their development, it also makes a firmer commitment to various projects that have been put forward by local stakeholders. Among these is an aspiration to operate through trains between Wrexham and central Liverpool via Bidston; these services would use battery traction and the 750 V DC power supply available on the Merseyrail network.

‘The North Wales Metro will provide direct services between Liverpool city centre, the Wirral and Wrexham via the Wrexham to Liverpool line, including better connections to Deeside Industrial Park’, the document says. ‘Working with the local authorities across Liverpool City Region, this cross-border project will use innovative battery-electric trains to provide greener, direct services, reducing the need to change trains.’ Realisation of this ambition would require investment of at least £150m, it adds.

Long-term hopes

Among £10bn of longer-term aims for completion by 2040 and beyond are a potential 16 km light rail network for Swansea which would serve Neath, Tonna and the city’s university; a proposed £1bn+ North West Corridor in Cardiff, which would see a tram-train route now being built to link Cardiff Bay and Central station extended in stages from Cardiff to Creigau, Talbot Green and Pontyclun.

Also on the wishlist with a cost in excess of £1bn is full or partial wiring of the Marches Line that links Cardiff and Crewe, along with the Chester – Shrewsbury corridor. TfW says its aspiration for the route is to achieve a 3 h journey time for Cardiff – Manchester services, a reduction of 20 min on current timings. In addition, the transport body is also assessing options to run local services over part of the route, including a proposed Cardiff – Abergavenny shuttle.