I thank my hon. Friend for his really important intervention. He has been a champion for the cause of electrifying the line between Cardiff and Swansea. There is also the air quality aspect; I believe he is still the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on air pollution. He will remember our visit to Vortex, a really important small business in my constituency that develops futuristic air testing quality equipment that looks like a black motorbike helmet, which gets put at the side of the road. I thank my hon. Friend very much for coming to Neath and for his intervention.
Another challenge is the fragmented nature of the rail industry in Wales. The network is owned by the UK Government via Network Rail, but the train operating companies such as Transport for Wales Rail are responsible for running the services. That can lead to a lack of co-ordination and accountability, with different companies prioritising different aspects of the network.
Additionally, the railway infrastructure in Wales faces challenges relating to the country’s geography. Wales is a hilly and mountainous country, which presents difficulties in building and maintaining railway infrastructure. The terrain can make it arduous and costly to lay new track, maintain existing infrastructure and provide reliable services in areas with limited access. Despite those challenges, there are opportunities for improvement in the railway infrastructure in Wales.
The Welsh Labour Government have recognised the importance of the railway network and have made significant investments in recent years. One such investment is the south Wales metro, which is an integrated transport network that aims to improve connectivity across south Wales. The project includes electrification of the valleys lines, new rolling stock and the development of new stations and transport hubs. The metro will also incorporate other forms of transport such as buses and bicycles, making it a more sustainable and integrated transport system. A similar plan is being worked on to develop a Swansea bay metro.
The Welsh Government have also committed to developing new railway connections, such as the proposed north Wales main line upgrade. The aim of that project is to improve the connection between north Wales and the rest of the UK by upgrading the railway line between Holyhead and Crewe. It would improve journey times and increase capacity, making it easier for people to travel to and from north Wales.
Finally, we must applaud the Welsh Government for leading on the global centre of rail excellence, which is being built in my Neath constituency. It will become the UK’s first net zero rail testing facility and will have a shared campus for rail innovation, research and development. It will be used for the testing and verification of mainline passenger and freight railways, and the development of next-generation solutions for the rail sector. The site will centre on two state-of-the-art loops of test track: one of about 7 km and a smaller one of about 4 km. The Welsh Government have committed
£50 million, the UK Government have committed £20 million, and a further £7.4 million is being provided through an Innovate UK R&D competition.
What needs to be done to ensure that the railway infrastructure in Wales is fit for purpose in the years ahead? First, we need continued investment in the maintenance and modernisation of the network. That will require funding from the Welsh Government, the UK Government and the private sector. That investment must be strategic and focused on the most pressing issues, such as the ageing infrastructure and the lack of connectivity in some areas. There are avenues for a substantial increase in investment if changes are made at a UK level to how funding for investment is allocated. I will say more about that shortly.
In addition, investment must focus on people. Rail infrastructure without people is just bits of metal running on other bits of metal. With that in mind, we must consider accessibility for all rail network users. It is brilliant that Transport for Wales’s new Stadler FLIRTs—fast light innovative regional trains—are low-floored with retractable gap fillers that will enable level boarding. That is transformative for disabled people and will allow independent travel at some stations. However, level boarding requires both low-floored trains and infrastructure modifications to set platforms to the UK standard, so will the UK Government commit to investing in a rolling programme to achieve that in Wales and across the UK?
Transport for Wales’s new class 197 trains are not low-floored with retractable gap fillers like the new Stadlers, so they will not enable level boarding. Regrettably, that will bolt in inaccessibility for decades. Why were those trains ordered, rather than trains that enable level boarding?
A recent Leonard Cheshire report claims that 40% of train stations remain inaccessible. The Access for All funding is inadequate and, according to the UK Government’s own statistics, at the current rate of investment it will take 100 years for stations to be accessible and have step-free access to platforms.
Secondly, we need to address the fragmentation in the rail industry in Wales. That could involve greater collaboration among the companies involved in running the network, or even devolution of all Welsh railway funding. That would ensure greater accountability and co-ordination, leading to a more efficient and effective network. We need to remember that the Wales route has about 10% of the UK rail network. It has historically received about 1% to 2% of rail enhancement investment, and has attracted about 5% to 6% of operations, maintenance and renewal investment. It typically has higher subsidies per passenger mile than elsewhere in the UK.
The Welsh Government are responsible for the subsidy for the majority of rail operations in Wales, but not for the funding or decisions related to enhancement and OMR expenditure. The more limited investment by the UK Government, compared with the rest of the UK, on enhancements and OMR has, in effect, handed an operational liability to the Welsh Government. That is a grossly inefficient means of organising strategic decision making and the funding of vital economic infrastructure.
Thirdly, we need to continue to make the most of the opportunities presented to us for investment in railway infrastructure in Wales. That brings me to the key issue
of HS2 and what it means for Wales. Currently, HS2 is classed as an England and Wales project, despite not a single foot of track having been laid in Wales. That means that unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, Wales will not receive a penny in funding as a result of Barnett consequentials. Had HS2 been classified as the England-only project that it clearly is, Wales would have received an additional £5 billion of funding, which could be used as vital investment in its railway infrastructure. The argument could go further: we could see HS2 as a disbenefit to Wales.
A recent noteworthy development is that at Old Oak Common. Why is OOC an issue worth debating when we talk about Welsh infrastructure investment, or rather the lack of it? With the delay in building Euston, OOC has now become the London terminus of HS2. It is not yet clear whether Euston will ever be built. The overspend on HS2 is eye-watering and any semblance of a business plan has disappeared with the ongoing contraction of the new railway, along with the promise of wider benefits long into the future for the rest of the UK.
Very little of that wider benefit would have been for Wales. There might have been some intangible benefits for north Wales, but there are absolutely no benefits for the rest of Wales and certainly none along the south Wales main line. The general consensus is that HS2 will negatively impact Wales, as a new high-speed line between OOC—I will not call it London—and Birmingham has nothing to offer Wales except extended journey times to Paddington.
We now have OOC being touted as a new destination in its own right, with the expectation that significant investment will accrue around the new station. “Build it and they will come” seems to be the mantra. The same is now being said for the HS2 terminus at Curzon Street in Birmingham, which will supposedly become a new city centre, as investment follows the new station. That is two major builds at two stations that are not in the city centre. No connecting services will be available at Curzon Street, and Birmingham New Street will be half a mile away. There is no clarity yet on how connecting passengers will move from one to the other, so any time savings are already being eaten into.
At OOC it is all about connecting to the Elizabeth line, but passengers from Wales will be able to do that anyway at Paddington, and in less time. More importantly, there is a direct disbenefit to Wales as a result of the development of OOC. The plan from the Department for Transport and the industry is for all trains to call at OOC. Indeed, that is part of the HS2 business case, particularly now that OOC is to be the southern terminus of HS2.
That will add about five minutes to every journey into Wales. The relatively recent electrification programme on the route—itself curtailed at Cardiff to save money—had, as part of its business case, a 15-minute journey time reduction between Paddington and Wales. Long-distance intercity trains from Wales, be they Great Western Railway or Grand Union, will be negatively impacted by five minutes by the need to call at OOC, so the initial business case for electrifying the south Wales main line is now undermined. In particular, I see no way any passenger for south Wales would choose a journey from Birmingham via OOC. That is one thing that the rail industry does agree on.