UK Minister visits Cardiff to hear about Western Gateway Rail Deal

As part of the visit,  the minister had a tour of the station to hear about the extensive redevelopment and joined a Western Gateway hosted a roundtable session with Transport for Wales, local leaders and other rail organisations.

The Minister was presented with the Western Gateway Partnership’s work to translate the Rail Vision 2050 into a deliverable ‘Rail Deal’ which can add £17bn to the UK economy in the short to medium term. With a plan to deliver as many as 34 new stations across the area nearly halve journey times across the area, the deal has potential to create real life changing benefits to local communities.

Transport for Wales officials outlined the importance of delivering the five “Burns Review” stations between Cardiff and Severn Junction tunnel to improve access to new jobs and skills for local communities.   They also highlighted the value that the Western Gateway Rail Vision has played in building political and industry support for these schemes whilst also starting new conversations about how we can design new cost-effective and deliverable stations.

Rail Minister, Huw Merriman MP, said: “I was delighted to be invited to Cardiff by the Western Gateway and Transport for Wales to see the scale of investment in and around the station.

“The UK Government committed £50m to Cardiff Crossrail last year, building on our existing commitment of almost £78m to Cardiff Central station, and I welcome the impact this is already having in promoting wider commercial growth in the city centre.

“I was also pleased to hear more about the Western Gateway vision for future services and stations and to see the strength of partnership around the table.”

The importance of electrifying the South Wales mainline between Cardiff and Swansea was high on the agenda.  The roundtable, which also included Great Western Railway, Network Rail and Cardiff Council, set out the value to the South Wales economy, the significant opportunity to decarbonise the rail fleet and the engagement with the rail industry to identify new cost-efficient methods to make this vision a reality.

Deputy Director of the Western Gateway James Cooke said: “We have worked incredibly hard with the support of our board members to secure cross-party and cross-border support for our ambitious Rail Deal.  I was delighted to be able present this opportunity to the Minister with the support of local organisations around the table. I was particularly pleased to hear the Minister’s support for developing a credible electrification pipeline which can build industry confidence, supply-chains and ultimately reduce the cost-per-mile of delivery which is what we are all striving for to decarbonise our network.

“As the Filton Bank electrification between Bristol Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads also progresses to Outline Business Case, there is a real opportunity to build on this to ensure benefits of cleaner and quicker travel cross the border.”

These plans to transform the area's rail network will form a major part of the 2024 Convention for the Western Gateway. This event will see the area launch it's "Plan for Sustainable Growth" as the partnership looks to unlock South Wales and Western England's potential.  Tickets are now available online.