‘Too early’ for work timetable on ‘vital’ train line

A PROJECT to electrify the North Wales main line will involve “unprecedented investment”, UK transport secretary Mark Harper said. But the cabinet minister said no timetable had yet been fixed for implementation.

The UK Government plans to provide £1bn to fund a major upgrade of the North Wales Main Line to reinforce its role as a “vital part” of the UK’s strategic transport network. This will include electrification, which has long been a key demand from transport campaigners in the region.

The scheme is designed to improve journey times and reliability on a 126-mile route between Crewe, Warrington, Wrexham and Holyhead. Electrification will also reduce the route’s carbon footprint.

Wales Office Minister Dr James Davies, who has campaigned for improved rail services in North Wales, has previously said it will help get “more people off the roads and onto trains”. The upgrade will be funded by money saved from cancelled plans to extend HS2 north of Birmingham. The scheme was scrapped amid spiralling costs.

Mr Harper met local MPs, councillors and business leaders at Friday’s Welsh Conservative Party conference in Llandudno to discuss how the project will benefit the region.

The Cabinet minister said there was “cross-party” support for the North Wales rail scheme and said it was a “big investment” for the region.

He added: “It’s an unprecedented investment in this part of the world. People very much welcome it.”

But asked when the project will happen, Mr Harper said it was “too early” to give a timetable, adding: “I’m not going to pluck a figure out of the air.”

A project to electrify the Great Western railway line between London and South Wales ran over the expected budget of around £900m. Work to electrify the line between Cardiff and Swansea was eventually scrapped.

Mr Harper insisted this would not be repeated.

He said: “We talked this morning about the lessons learned from electrification elsewhere. We’ve learned a lot from the electrification of the Great Western line.”

Opposition parties have dismissed the £1bn pledge, claiming Wales should have already received more than £2bn in Barnett consequentials for the first phase of HS2.