Ambition for our Railways

We believe that rail infrastructure should be devolved to Wales, as it is in Scotland and Northern Ireland, allowing rail infrastructure planning for Wales to be decided in Wales.

Only 1% of UK Government capital spend is on railways in Wales, reflecting both current and historical underspend. While London and major cities in Scotland were connected by electrified railway more than fifty years ago, it is only in the past decade that Wales has even had a single mile of electrified track.

With that £4,000,000,000 additional funding, we could revolutionise our railway and transport systems, including properly connecting north and south Wales for the first time within Wales, reopening major railway lines closed under Beeching, electrifying the North Wales Main Line, improving existing railway services, and increasing and improving services west of Swansea.

To do that, Wales needs an ambitious travel plan that also considers public transport connections in the south Wales Valleys and other areas of Wales which do not have existing rail connections – including by use of trams or light rail.