Railway powers 'may not be devolved until 2018'

Power to decide who runs most of Wales' rail services may not be given to Cardiff until 2018, AMs have been told.

The Welsh Government is set to ask for formal bids to run the Wales and Borders service this week.

But a senior official told AMs that will be under an agreement with the UK government, despite Welsh ministers expecting to have taken over the process by now.

The UK government said it wanted to give Welsh ministers "greater control".

The new franchise - which will replace the contract currently held by Arriva Trains Wales - is due to start next year.

But the process has been beset by delays and wrangling between the two governments over powers and costs.

Simon Jones, director of transport and ICT infrastructure, gave evidence to an assembly committee alongside Economy Secretary Ken Skates on Wednesday.

The tender was postponed from August with Welsh and UK governments blaming each other for delays.

At the heart of the row was an argument over whether the Department for Transport (DfT) should give the Welsh Government £1bn in cash over 15 years.

Mr Jones told AMs: "If you look at the DfT website it says that those powers will be transferred at the end of this year.

"Our discussions with officials are suggesting that might run into next year.

"We're going out to tender on the back of an agency agreement that ministers have signed between here and Westminster.

"So this tender is on behalf of the secretary of state for transport.

"Depending on how rapidly they turn the powers around we may end up with an agency agreement to award the contract as well."

Mr Skates confirmed that the tender would be issued on Thursday.

"The franchise will commence in October of next year," he said, suggesting the franchise timetable remained on track.

A DfT spokesman said: "We want better rail services for people in Wales and we are committed to giving the Welsh Government greater control over trains, and will be finalising arrangements for devolution over the next few months."

In a debate on the rail franchise process in the Senedd on Wednesday afternoon, Labour AM Jeremy Miles said powers were meant to have been devolved in January 2017.

Mr Miles said committee evidence from the DfT "suggested to me that the UK government had all but washed its hands of responsibility for the franchise, whilst, at the same time, dragging its heels on devolving the powers to the Welsh Government".

Dai Lloyd, a Plaid Cymru AM, accused Westminster and Labour of "incompetence" which "has meant that delays to the devolution of the Welsh rail franchise will already cost taxpayers an extra £3.5m, and possibly derail - pun intended - the whole franchise procurement process".

UKIP's David Rowlands criticised what he called UK government "intransigence" for making "procurement and the franchise award infinitely more difficult for the Welsh Government to realise its ambitions for rail services of Wales and the delivery of the metro".