Precisely. The money is poured into London, which already has the wealth and the best transport system. There is an idea that there will be some sort of trickle down. In transport generally, the only place we have publicly owned transport that works is London; elsewhere, it is a complete mess because it is not controlled in the interests of the public.
Investment is the core issue I am focusing on, and we are completely starved of the resources we need. The Minister knows that Transport for Wales has worked up £2.5 billion-worth of projects that can be delivered over the next 10 to 15 years. That is half the consequential funding it deserves. I have spoken about this before, and perhaps the Minister will mention it when he responds to the debate. I hope that his officials in the Department for Transport are engaging with Transport for Wales to get some of those projects up and running.
Some projects have been mentioned already, including the Swansea metro and connectivity in south Wales. The reality is that 3 million people live in Swansea, Cardiff and Bristol. That economic and population cluster should be connected up, but connections between Swansea and Bristol run about once an hour, while connections between Leeds and Manchester—an equivalent area—run about eight times an hour. To rub salt in the wounds of Wales, we have just been reminded that the Government have decided to classify Northern Powerhouse Rail as an England and Wales project, so more money will go into that project instead of to Wales; we will get nothing. We also need more connectivity between Holyhead and Crewe. There are plans for a freeport, and at the moment the strategy is that everything is going to be sucked out of Wales and into Liverpool.
We should all share a vision of a stronger, fairer, greener future for all the United Kingdom, but in particular for Wales, where we have the opportunity to build renewables and green energy. We know that freight, for example, is going to grow by 30% by 2035. The Government should be investing in Wales rather than putting us down and not letting us achieve our true potential.