MPs’ outrage at possible rail electrification ‘U-turn’
CONCERN has soared that the electrification of the Great Western rail line may stop at Cardiff and not continue to Swansea.
Electrified train services are expected to run between London and Cardiff by December of next year, but fears are growing that the line to Swansea will not be upgraded as planned.
Plaid Cymru Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP and transport spokesman Jonathan Edwards said: “If the British Government U-turns on the promise they made to the people of Wales that the South Wales Main Line will be electrified all the way to Swansea, it would be an absolute disgrace...
“Wales was promised full electrification by both the Labour Party in 2009 and the Conservatives in 2010 – it is enough of a scandal that we are still waiting eight years later, but if the British Government U-turns, while the people of Wales are still paying for England’s HS2, it will be an absolute disgrace.”
Mr Edwards called for responsibility for rail infrastructure to be handed to the Assembly.
A Welsh Government spokesman also pressed the Westminster Government to deliver and called for further devolution.
The spokesman said: “The simple fact is that a promise was made to people, communities and businesses in south-west Wales that the Great Western mainline would be modernised all the way to Swansea. The UK Government need to deliver on that pledge.
“In recent years, only around 1.5% of UK Government spending on rail enhancements has been directed to Wales.
“Despite the Commission on Devolution in Wales recommending funding for rail infrastructure be devolved, the UK Government has refused to open discussions with us, so it has a clear responsibility to deliver in this area.”
Swansea West Labour MP Geraint Davies said his constituency was paying the price for UK Government “incompetence”.
He said: “The original plan was to have electrified lightweight modern trains running from Paddington to Swansea, but now the plan is to carry heavy diesel engines [and] switch into dirty diesel mode from Cardiff to Swansea. Obviously, this is a plan to make short-term cost savings...
“This is another step backwards from the Government. At a time that the Germans are developing hydrogen trains, we’re reviving a new era of diesel trains and as diesel pollution kills 40,000 people a year [it] is a hopeless story of failure and broken promises.”
The Westminster Public Accounts Committee reported in 2015 on the “staggering and unacceptable” increase in the estimated costs of the electrification programme, “which rose by £1.2bn in the space of a year”.
It noted in March that the UK Government’s “claim that many of the passenger benefits of electrification can be obtained without electrifying the whole route raises questions about whether full electrification is the most appropriate way to achieve benefits for passengers”.
Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns told the BBC that “passengers won’t know if they’re running on diesel or electric”.
The Vale of Glamorgan Conservative MP said: “When the original decision was made to electrify the Great Western main line, there was only the view of running an electriconly train. We’re now using the latest technology – it would’ve been foolish not to have a bi-modal train.
“So as a result of the change in Government emphasis, we’re focused on outcomes. Now they’ve electrified to Swindon, we’re having the latest trains available this autumn, so Swansea will be benefiting from new trains much, much sooner from a Government shift in policy.”
In 2012 then-Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan welcomed the decision to electrify the line to Swansea as “the most significant infrastructure announcement for Wales for decades”.
It was anticipated the move would cut the journey time by 20 minutes.