Starmer backs £14bn vision for Welsh rail overhaul

Keir Starmer will today formally endorsed Transport for Wales’ long-term blueprint for railway improvement alongside First Minister for Wales Eluned Morgan.

The Spending Review cash will kickstart a pipeline designed to support 12,000 jobs across Wales and drive a decade of rail construction.

Seven new station projects are now lined up: Magor and Undy, Llanwern, Cardiff East, Newport West, Somerton, Cardiff Parkway and a new stop serving Deeside Industrial Park.

The five so-called Burns stations between Cardiff and the Severn Tunnel Junction are backed by £90m over the next four years. Work will begin this year, with Magor and Undy expected to complete first.

Cardiff Parkway – long touted as part of the Hendre Lakes business park scheme – will now move forward under an agreed approach between the UK Government, Welsh Government and private investors. The wider development is forecast to support around 6,000 jobs.

Ministers have also earmarked £60m to transform Cardiff Central railway station, taking total UK backing for the project to £78m. Work is due to start in spring 2026, with the bulk completed by 2029.

A further £40m will increase line speeds on the South Wales Relief Lines between Cardiff and the Severn Tunnel, creating capacity for additional passenger and freight services. Up to £30m more is being invested at Cardiff West Junction to allow more frequent Core Valley Lines trains.

In North Wales, upgrades around Padeswood will ease freight bottlenecks on the Wrexham–Liverpool line, unlocking capacity for two trains per hour and paving the way for the new Deeside station. Safety and service works on the North Wales Coast Mainline, including replacement footbridges at Prestatyn and Abergele, are backed by around £30m.

Behind the headline projects sits a 43-scheme enhancement programme overseen by the Wales Rail Board, bringing together the Welsh and UK Governments, Transport for Wales and Network Rail.

Transport for Wales estimates the total cost of schemes under consideration at up to £14bn, subject to future Spending Reviews.

If delivered in full, ministers claim the programme could generate £6.3bn in wider economic benefits, add 13.3m rail journeys a year and cut 3.8m car trips annually.

Construction activity alone is expected to create more than 6,000 jobs, alongside over 1,000 permanent roles.