Cross-border Rail Connectivity
1/44. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to improve rail connectivity between north Wales and the north of England.
9. What steps she is taking with the Welsh Government to improve cross-border rail connectivity.
We are investing at least £445 million—an historic investment—in Welsh rail, to right the years of underfunding by previous Conservative Governments and to unleash Wales’s economic potential. This funding will support the permanent closing of level crossings on the north Wales main line, enabling increased services across north Wales that will improve cross-border connectivity, create jobs and boost economic growth.
The Chancellor’s announcement of at least £445 million for Welsh rail will be transformative for Welsh passengers and Better Connect workers with jobs across north Wales and Manchester, but only if we are pulling in the same direction. What steps will be taken by the Wales Office to ensure that national Governments, devolved Governments and our combined authority in Greater Manchester are working together to improve connectivity and bring the people of the north-west and north Wales closer together?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is why I was pleased to see the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Ken Skates recently launch Network North Wales in Wrexham. That really exciting plan will better connect communities in north Wales and north-west England through more rail and bus services and greater integration. Benefits will include 50% more timetabled services on the north Wales main line, boosting cross-border connectivity and driving economic growth between north Wales and north-west England. In addition, the investment in rail infrastructure will boost capacity on the Wrexham to Liverpool line.
Bore da. Does the Secretary of State agree that the introduction of the midlands rail hub project, which will see an additional train per hour from Cardiff in south Wales to the midlands, is a great sign that this Government are investing not just in Wales and the midlands but in the whole country?
I thank my hon. Friend for his question—and for his very good Welsh. The first phase of the midlands rail hub will enable additional trains between Birmingham and south Wales, strengthening cross-border connectivity between Wales and England. That is absolutely what this Government’s investment is about: creating jobs and growth and connecting Wales and England.
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
Let us have another reality check. Information provided to us by the Department for Transport confirms that Conservative expenditure on Welsh rail exceeded £5 billion over our time in office, underpinned by our plans to deliver the north Wales main line. Yet in a January sitting of the Welsh Affairs Committee, the Welsh Secretary roundly criticised Welsh rail before claiming: “That is a direct consequence, I am afraid, of the last 14 years of underfunding”. As usual, this Government’s words and beliefs and the reality are poles apart. This Labour Government are now offering peanuts—just a miserable £400 million over an entire decade. Will the Secretary of State retract her past claims to the Welsh Affairs Committee and the similar ones that have been made on the Wales Office Government social media accounts?
No, I will not.