A view from Plaid Cymru’s North Wales Member of the Senedd

Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South Members of Parliament and Members of the Senedd to write a monthly article with updates on their work in their respective Parliaments and closer to home – you can find them all here. ​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌‌‌​‍‌​‌​‌‌​​‍‌​​‌‌‌‌​‍‌​​​​‌‌​‍‌​‌​‌​‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​​‌‌​‍‌​‌‌‌‌‌​‍‌​​​‌‌​‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌​‌​‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌​‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​‌​​‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​‌‌​​ ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌‌‌​‍‌​‌​‌‌​​‍‌​​‌‌‌‌​‍‌​​​​‌‌​‍‌​‌​‌​‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​​‌‌​‍‌​‌‌‌‌‌​‍‌​​​‌‌​‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌​‌​‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌​‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​‌​​‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​‌‌​​

In this month’s column Llyr Gruffydd MS writes:

The cancelation of the HS2 project north of Birmingham continues to make political waves in the Senedd and across north Wales.

The much-trailed decision by Rishi Sunak to scrap the Manchester-Crewe-Birmingham leg of the hugely expensive rail project was initially mitigated by bold announcements about a £1bn North Wales mainline electrification and other projects such as re-opening the Gobowen-Oswestry line.

Within days, that £1 billion announcement had been downgraded to a ‘illustrative’ example.

The whole sorry episode is a reminder that HS2 was designated as an England-and-Wales project and therefore only Scotland and Northern Ireland were worthy of getting consequential payments – i.e. additional cash – for their transport networks. Wales, despite not having a mile of the HS2 scheme within its borders, was said to be benefitting from higher-speed trains via Crewe and therefore not eligible for funding.

This tenuous argument was challenged at the time – the current direct trains via Chester to London are direct and can arrive in as little as 2 hours and 15 minutes. The proposed ‘improvement’ would have meant changing at Crewe with the added ‘bonus’ of arriving in a West London suburban station of Old Oak rather than a mainline terminus such as Euston.

It was such a poor argument that the Senedd uniquely saw a cross-party consensus – including even the Tories – during a Plaid Cymru debate over the summer arguing that Wales should get additional funding for public transport as a result. Predictably the UK Government refused to budge.

Scrapping the Crewe leg of the project effectively destroyed that tenuous economic argument. Yet there has been no reconsideration of the financial implications and Wales continues to have the worst of both worlds – no benefit from the London-Birmingham link and no added funding. Welsh taxpayers are paying for England’s railway.

So how much is that cost? The latest figure for the Birmingham-London link is £44.6bn but that’s at 2019 prices and we all know how construction costs and inflation have rocketed since then. A consequential payment for Wales would be at least £2.2bn and likely to rise above £3bn when today’s prices are factored in.

The difference this and other consequential payments, as a result of Northern Powerhouse Rail for example, could make to the Welsh public transport system is enormous. Wrexham, more than most parts of Wales, suffers from a patchy rail link that shuttles between Chester and Shrewsbury with similarly slow and disconnected services to Liverpool. Its bus network is, if anything, even worse after the collapse of a number of local bus firms a few years ago. The absence of a good public transport network makes a mockery of talk of being a city and highlights the fluff and spin surrounding Labour’s talk of a North Wales Metro service.

If Labour is serious about delivering better public transport for Wales, the Welsh Government should be insisting that an incoming Keir Starmer government commits to fair funding for Welsh transport.

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