Be grateful for Welsh rail cash, UK minister says

A UK government minister has told a Welsh MP he "might want to be a little more grateful" for the £445m promised for Welsh railways in the spending review.

Darren Jones made the comment after Lib Dem David Chadwick said the cash - some of which will be spent over a decade - was "insulting".

The exchange came as BBC Wales learned that some of the money needed to redevelop Cardiff's main railway station will come from the same pot of money - a fact that was not apparent at the review.

Last week's UK government spending review allocated £445m for new rail projects - including five new local stations in Cardiff, Newport and Monmouthshire.

There have been concerns in the Welsh government over the last week that the £445m might include money for Central - meaning there would be less to spend on the other stations.

First Minister Eluned Morgan, in a BBC Wales interview on Wednesday, suggested she was not sure whether the cash announced at the spending review included money for Cardiff Central or not.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens had said last week the money for the station upgrade was separate, but has now told BBC Wales that the £445m "includes work we are doing" on that redevelopment.

It is not clear how much is expected to come from the £445m pot announced in the spending review.

The £445m includes £300m that is meant to cover five new stations and improvement work in north Wales.

Previous estimates for the five new stations put the cost of that project - together with the improvements that would be needed to the mainline - at £385m.

Opposition parties have criticised the package, calling it a drop in the ocean.

In the Commons on Thursday Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick took issue with the rail package.

"I hope the minister appreciates just how insulting it is for Welsh ears to been told that we're getting a fair deal when it comes to railway funding, when we've been cheated out of billions of pounds due to the classification of several projects as England [and] Wales projects.

He said five new stations in south Wales was "hardly national renewal".

In response, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said: "There's a huge difference. Under the last government you didn't get a penny."

Jones said the UK government was providing the "largest real terms increase in spending in Wales since devolution began".

He added: "You might want to be a little more grateful in future."

Chadwick said in a statement: "This was a gobsmackingly arrogant response from the minister that just shows how out of touch Labour are with Wales."

Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roberts added it was "arrogant and insulting not just to David Chadwick, but to the people of Wales".

Plaid and the Lib Dems argue Wales has lost out on billions because of the way High Speed 2 rail has been classified by the Treasury. The Welsh Labour government has estimated the figure is closer to £431m.

The previous Conservative UK government originally supported the electrification of the south Wales mainline to Swansea, but later cancelled it beyond Cardiff.

It also helped fund the South Wales Metro scheme.

A Welsh Conservative spokesperson said a document on rail funding from the Welsh government showed between 2014 and 2024 the Tories spent "£1.1bn on rail infrastructure in Wales".

"The Labour UK government are spending considerably less than half than what was spent by the last UK Conservative government over the last ten years. It's not a victory, it's a disgrace."

Under the Transport for Wales proposals, up to £140m funding for the Cardiff Central project will be provided by the Department for Transport, Cardiff Capital Region and the Welsh government.

Plans include a larger concourse to increase capacity and improve passenger access through additional gate-lines.

Speaking on a visit to Tylorstown in Rhondda, the first minister said on Wednesday: "What we have got is clarity in terms of how the five new stations that were announced by the chancellor will be funded and that is absolutely crucial.

"So if there is not enough money to fund that and Cardiff station, they have to make sure they honour that."

When asked whether the Cardiff station money might have been included in the £445m, she replied: "I haven't seen the detail of that. What I'm saying is that those five stations were promised by the chancellor."

She added: "There's always going to be further discussions".

Stevens said work on the Cardiff Central redevelopment "is already being delivered".

Speaking to BBC Wales on Thursday, she said: "The announcement last week in the spending review of at least £445m for rail infrastructure in Wales, includes work we are doing around Cardiff Central redevelopment, but also some other work around projects that are already being delivered."

She added: "It means passengers in Wales are going to have more capacity, more faster trains, more stations, and all the feedback I've had about that so far has been really, really positive."

The UK government allocated £445m of funding for Welsh rail improvements over ten years at last week's spending review.

£300m will go to five new stations around Cardiff and Newport between 2026 and 2030, and a series of improvement works including measures to improve capacity in north Wales.

Another £48m is earmarked for the South Wales Metro, while the rest is for future development work.

Morgan also said she had asked for clarity around the UK government's new local growth funds, but had been told the Welsh government would decide where the money is spent.

Worth £211m each year to Wales between 2026 and 2029, it will replace the Shared Prosperity Fund, set up by the Conservatives as a stand-in for European Union economic aid.

EU aid used to be administered by the Welsh government while the UK was in the European Union.

Last week Stevens said that the Welsh government would be "taking on a big decision-making role around that" with the Wales Office in Westminster having "oversight".

The scheme would still be ultimately administered by the UK government.

That arrangement led to accusations in the Senedd on Wednesday, from Conservative MS Samuel Kurtz and Labour's Alun Davies, that UK Labour had broken a manifesto commitment.

Morgan said that after seeking clarity she was clear that the Welsh government would decide where the cash goes.

"It will be the Welsh government deciding where that money is spent.

"We have had that reassurance from the secretary of state for Wales, and the prime minister made it clear from the stage of the Wales Labour Party conference," she said.

"As far as I am concerned we know where we stand on that. Now we know how much money we have got we can start a plan."

Plaid Cymru's Luke Fletcher has written to the Welsh government asking for clarification, after the Counsel General, Julie James, had told the Senedd the funds would be "administered" in Wales.

"It is clear that communication between the Welsh and UK Labour governments has completely broken down," he said.