Spending Review rail pledge for Wales branded ‘shameful’ and ‘token’

Today’s Spending Review by UK Government has indicated more cash for Wales is planned over the next three years, including allocation for rail improvements.

In the Spending Review the Chancellor Rachel Reeves said, “The Welsh Government will benefit from an average extra £1.6 billion over the Spending Review period through the Barnett formula to deliver against the priorities of working people in Wales, and 20% more to spend per individual than comparable UK Government does for people in the rest of the UK.”

She added, “Police spending power will see an average 2.3% real terms increase over the Spending Review period as the government puts police back on the beat in communities across England and Wales, supporting the government’s Plan for Change commitment to put an additional 13,000 police officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood roles.”

In the detail of the documents released today it states, “£300 million for rail investment in Wales, including for the Burns Review stations, North Wales Level Crossing, Padeswood Sidings and Cardiff West Junction.”

It adds, “This SR and the upcoming 10-year Infrastructure Strategy will recognise Wales’s long-term infrastructure needs and will deliver at least £445 million of rail enhancements to realise them. This includes providing £48 million over four years to the Welsh Government to upgrade the Core Valley Lines and increase connectivity across Wales.

“This new investment will improve links, including for Padeswood on the Borderlands Line through Wrexham (connecting centres of excellence in advanced manufacturing), and between Cardiff and Bristol, where the digital technologies, clean energy, and creative industry businesses are clustered, supporting the UK-wide Industrial Strategy.”

On Welsh Government funding it details, “The Welsh Government is receiving an average of £22.4 billion each year. This includes an additional £1.6 billion each year on average through the Barnett formula, with £1.4 billion of day-to-day spending for the next three years and £200 million of capital for the next four years.”

It also adds, “This SR provides £2.4 million over 2026‑27 to 2028-29 to launch a new Brand Wales programme, promoting Welsh investment opportunities and exports around the world.”

There has been no comment from Welsh Labour or Welsh Government.

Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Darren Millar MS, has commented saying: “Today’s rail spending announcement is an insult to the people of Wales.

“The previous UK Conservative Government invested over £1bn in rail infrastructure between 2014 and 2024 and promised over £1bn more to deliver the electrification in North Wales.

Branding the announcement “Shameful.”

Plaid Cymru Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts MP said: “The announcement of £44.5 million a year for Welsh rail over the next decade is Labour’s flimsy fig leaf to excuse the multi-billion-pound, multi-decade scandal that is the Welsh rail injustice. Today’s funding is only meaningful if it matches what Wales will continue to lose from HS2 and all other English rail projects in the future.

“Labour hopes a few token projects will distract from deep cuts to vital services that hit the most vulnerable hardest, all while shifting the goalposts on Welsh funding. The unfair Barnett formula remains open to manipulation, just as the recent example of the Oxford-Cambridge line displayed, with the Treasury bizarrely claiming that a railway line in the south-east of England would benefit Wales.

“For Wales, today’s statement was more smoke and mirrors. It’s time to deliver the fair funding Welsh communities desperately need and deserve.”