‘THE WORST FOR WALES’
Rail investment ‘has been targeted at South East England for decades’
MARK Barry, Professor of practice in connectivity at Cardiff University, said the UK Government’s rail plans were the “worst of all worlds” for Wales.
It comes after leaders in the north of England expressed fury at a decision to scrap part of the HS2 project, with claims he had reneged on investment promises.
Critics of the scheme have also questioned what, if any, benefit Wales will see from the funding of the project.
Prof Barry, who has advised the Welsh Government on transport, said: “We’re getting the worst of all worlds here.
“From a UK perspective, we’re doing it wrong. The decision-making, the funding, all of it. The reality is that chances of getting the funding to better connect Liverpool and Chester to North Wales is fairly slim.
“I think existentially what the decision last week shows, which affects Wales as well as the north of England, is that too many of these big decisions on funding, infrastructure and investments are made by 10 or 15 senior officials in Downing Street.
“There is no doubt the Welsh Government want complete devolution of rail powers and funding. You’ve got to devolve a lot of those decisions to the places where they have impact.
“These politicians and officials that live and work around the South East of England, they simply aren’t going to appreciate the problems in Wales, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle.
“Investment in infrastructure has been heavily targeted at the South East for decades.”
Prof Barry also suggested Wales could ally with other parts of Britain where leaders have said they feel “betrayed” by the Boris Johnson government.
He said: “Boris Johnson and this Conservative government have got a bit of history of promising an awful lot to an awful amount of people without being aware of the difficulties of delivery of those things or even understanding.
“Ultimately you are accountable for what you say.”
HS2 will not provide any transport through North Wales, but Welsh commuters might see a benefit if they want to reach or leave major English cities, with faster and more regular connections in Crewe and Chester.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “HS2 will provide faster and more frequent train services to North Wales.
“The HS2 Interchange at Crewe will bring many parts of North Wales within two and a quarter hours of London, faster than the current West Coast Main Line services to Holyhead.”
Prof Barry believes the HS2 network could have potential for North Wales.
He said: “Chester station is sorted, we can get more services into Crewe and then the North Wales mainline.
“We could also see benefits from Northern Powerhouse rail if we get services into North Wales.”
He added: “Bizarrely, the relationship between the Welsh Government and the DFT is in fact better than it has ever been. There is now a recognition at last that there does need to be change, but we need the politics to now line up.”
Network Rail Chairman Sir Peter Hendy is due to release a final report in coming weeks which may plead a case that infrastructure and investment in railway is sorely needed in Wales.
Speaking about the UK Government’s plans, a Welsh Government spokesperson added: “It is telling that this package of measures will see electrification of more than 75% of the rail mainline in England, but in Wales just 2% is electrified.
“If ‘levelling up’ is to mean something, then we expect the UK Government to urgently invest in the rail infrastructure in Wales that they are responsible for.”