Drakeford demands rail service investment from PM
In the wake of the announcement that the money will be found to fund HS2, First Minister Mark Drakeford has written a noholds-barred letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson accusing the UK Government of neglecting rail services in Wales. Political editor R
A LETTER from First Minister Mark Drakeford to Prime Minister Boris Johnson spells out the extent Wales has missed out on its fair share of rail network investment – cash that has gone into the rail network in England.
And it shows that the UK Government’s own estimates for rail usage, on which it bases investment decisions, have dramatically underestimated the demand for rail travel in Wales.
Mr Drakeford, pictured below, then admits the Welsh Government has had to take money devolved to it because of schools and roads and hospitals spending in England and use that to make up the shortfall in funding for rail infrastructure, which is not devolved.
Mr Johnson has given the go-ahead for the £106bn HS2 rail network linking London and Leeds and Manchester, but it is classified as UK spending – meaning Wales does not get any extra funding under the Barnett formula.
In his letter, Mr Drakeford explains how many miles of railway Wales has compared to funding.
“Your announcement today that the HS2 project will proceed confirms an unprecedented investment in rail services in England,” he writes.
“This will continue a pattern of rail investment that has systematically neglected Wales. In accordance with your plan to level up economic growth across the UK, I urge you to take action to remedy this.
“Over the past 25 years, the railway in Wales has been starved of investment. Wales has 11% of
GB track miles, 5% of the population and since 2010 has received only 2% of GB’s rail enhancement spend.
“Not surprisingly, therefore, Wales has the lowest level of rail ridership, and the highest percentage of journeys made by private car.
“To address climate change, improve air quality, and relieve congestion we have to provide viable alteratives to the private car.
“To achieve this, the Welsh Government is investing in buses uses and active travel, but ut at the same time, substantial stantial investment to upgrade rail services ces in Wales is urgently ntly needed.”
He then brings gs up the scrapping ng of the electrificaation scheme as far as Swansea, ea, ordered by Mr Johnson’s prededecessor: “When the UK Government ment cancelled electrificarification to Swansea in 2017, it was acknowledged dged that a programme of enhancements across the e network in Wales was required quired in its place.
“To date, no such schemes es have been delivered.
“One of the root causes of the current position is the Department for Transport’s funding model which gives priority to areas of rail use, itself reflecting higher levels of historic investment.
“Research by the Rail Delivery Group demonstrates that this model consistently over-estimates growth for rail journeys connected to London, while under-estimating growth elsewhere. This discriminates against investment in Wales. For example, the Ebbw
branch line, whose re-opening we funded, is carrying 4,505 more passengers than the Department for Transport modelling predicted.
“This system bias undermines confidence in Wales that future decision making will meet our needs.”
Mr Drakeford then explains what the Welsh Government has had to do.
“We have mitigated this under-investment through funding from our block grant, diverting money from our devolved responsibilities for roads, health and education.
“We have reopened lines, opened new stations and delivered additional capacity to operate more services.
“This has been supported by funding from the European Union: it is imperative that the replacement for structural funds continues to support such
investment.”
And referring to the negative impact HS2 will have on Wales, he writes: “The decision to proceed with HS2 underlines the lack of investment in Wales. The scheme is predicted by HS2 Ltd to have a negative impact of £150m every year on the Welsh economy.”
Mr Drakeford then tells Mr Johnson what needs to happen: “Action to mitigate this must include extending HS2 services into Wales, with electrification of the line between Crewe and Holyhead between now and 2027.
“This would enable HS2 services to reach more areas in North Wales and the North of England, and enhance our vital areas in Ireland.
“There must also be investment in schemes on the core Trans-European Transport Network routes through Wales to Milford Haven and to Holyhead by 2030, estimated to cost approximately £1bn (£500m in Wales), Wa around 1% of the latest late HS2 cost estimate.
“Your plans to spend 3% of GDP on infrastructure in in this Parliam Parliament are very welcome – Wales’ Wa share of this will amount amo to some £3.7bn. If we receive this, and a fair share s of the HS2 spend over ov the next 10 years, we will be in a position to deliver our plans to tran transform services and con connectivity in Wales and acr across the border.
“These plans pla include three integra integrated Metro schemes (for ( North Wales, South-east Wales and Swansea Bay) which w will generate e employment a and enhance p productivity in some of the poorest parts of the UK.
“These schemes are vital to cross-border collaboration, including the Great Western Cities Partnership.
“Ken Skates, Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales, will be writing to you jointly with Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, about investment and the Borderlands railways.
“As well as tackling under-investment, we need to ensure that decision-making on rail in Wales is fully integrated with regional planning and complementary investment in infrastructure and services.
“As I’ve said, historically, Wales has been low on the list of priorities in decision-making on the UK rail network.
“Rail devolution will enable us to put this right, building on the recent devolution of franchising powers and transfer of infrastructure ownership, which are already delivering results.
“Keith Williams’ rootand-branch review of Britain’s railways presents an opportunity to reform the railways and create the fully integrated public transport network which Wales needs.
“We look forward to the Rail White Paper to grasp this opportunity.”
Mr Drakeford concludes: “To conclude, I am calling on your government to ready the historic under-investment in Wales’ rail infrastructure through your budget next month, and thus ensure delivery of the improvements needed to improve connectivity across Wales.”