Major rail upgrades planned at Padeswood to boost Wrexham-Liverpool line
Plans to upgrade the railway line between Wrexham and Liverpool have been confirmed, with major work at Padeswood cement works marking the first significant step in improving services and freight handling.
Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales Ken Skates and Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens visited the Padeswood site recently to see the proposed upgrades, part of a £445 million UK Government investment in Welsh rail announced in the latest Comprehensive Spending Review.
Speaking to Deeside.com, Ken Skates explained the current limitations on the line, particularly around freight operations.
“At the moment, the trains have to reverse in, and they have to wait for all of the signalling. It’s all very complicated, but it takes about 40 minutes, and that prevents us from operating more frequent passenger services,” he said.
The upgrade work will address this bottleneck by improving rail infrastructure to speed up freight access to the Heidelberg Materials cement works at Padeswood. This, in turn, will free capacity on the line to allow two reliable passenger trains per hour.
“About four weeks ago, we unveiled Network North Wales, and what we’re seeing today is where the first significant component of that upgrade of rail infrastructure is going to take place,” Mr Skates said.
He added the investment would bring “real economic benefits, helping the cement works and improving connectivity between Wrexham and Liverpool.”
The project forms a key part of the Network North Wales vision, which aims to deliver an integrated, high-frequency public transport network in the region.
Ken Skates said the current funding covers a three-year period of work, with this scheme among those expected to be completed within that timescale.
“That’s the key thing about the Spending Review. It’s a three-year period of investment, and within a three-year period of investment, it’s very difficult to complete rail schemes. This is one of the schemes that we will be able to complete,” he told Deeside.com.
While disruption during construction is expected to be kept to a minimum, rail replacement services may be required at times.
The Cabinet Secretary was clear the funding for this work is long overdue, recalling a campaign dating back 50 years.
“Barry Jones, the MP for Alyn and Deeside from 1970, in his maiden speech referenced a need to invest in this line and the need to ultimately electrify it,” Mr Skates said.
“It’s taken 50 years to get to this point where we are actually now getting the funding from the UK Government to enable us to deliver on that ambition to upgrade services.”
He expressed confidence that the UK Government would continue investing in Welsh rail infrastructure regardless of political changes after the Senedd election.
“I’m confident, regardless of what happens in May, we will still have a UK Government that will invest in Wales. The key thing is, will we have a government in Wales that is competent enough to make sure that investment is fully utilised?”
Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens emphasised the importance of the UK Government’s funding commitment, saying it “unleashes our country’s economic potential.”
She said the investment will see brand-new stations, line upgrades like those at Padeswood, and more frequent, faster trains across North and South Wales.
“I used to get trains from Wrexham to Bidston line in the 1970s and I don’t think anything’s changed since then,” Stevens told Deeside.com.
“Having two trains an hour for people, with the ambition and the aspiration to get four trains an hour eventually, it’s going to revolutionise travel in the area and create the opportunities through all the funding that we’re putting into attracting investment to create jobs.”
Work on the scheme will now focus on design and planning before construction begins, with the full cost to be confirmed once final designs are agreed.
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