Image Source: railuk.com under Creative Commons Licence BY-NC-ND-4.0
Senedd Home was mothballed for five long years because of a lack of support. Don’t let it happen again. This site doesn’t receive any public funding or subsidy. If you believe I’m trying something new here or like what’s being done, consider a donation. One-off or monthly; as little or as much as you want.
Click the links below, or full details are available here.
Rail Infrastructure
Is this devolved to Wales?
Not Devolved
The powers over this are reserved to the UK Parliament in Schedule 7A of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (Section E2 - Rail transport).
Transport for Wales is a Welsh Government-owned train operating company, and TfW is responsible for some of the infrastructure for the South Wales Metro (aka “Valley Lines”) that has been converted to run tram-trains.
The Welsh Government can also voluntarily pay towards rail infrastructure (for example, building a new station or reopening a line to passengers), but receives no extra funding through the Barnett formula to do so because it isn’t devolved.
This situation was brought into the spotlight following the approval of England’s High Speed 2 (HS2) project. As rail infrastructure is devolved to Scotland and Northern Ireland, both countries received a Barnett formula consequential (a budget top-up). However, HS2 is considered an “England and Wales” project. Wales did not receive any additional funding, which some estimates put at between £4-6 billion.
Plaid Cymru committed to pursuing devolution of rail infrastructure in its 2026 Senedd election manifesto.
Who has raised this at the Senedd?
Mark Hooper MS
Deputy Minister for Transport
Mair Rowlands MS
Co-Chair: Culture
Niamh Salkeld MS
Backbencher
Helen Jenner MS
Leader of the Opposition
Jason O'Connell MS
Shadow Economy Minister
Adrian Mason MS
Shadow Counsel General
Vikki Howells MS
Senedd Commissioner
Peter Fox MS
Backbencher
Jane Dodds MS
Backbencher
Mark Hooper MS
Deputy Minister for Transport
Mair Rowlands MS
Co-Chair: Culture
Niamh Salkeld MS
Backbencher
Helen Jenner MS
Leader of the Opposition
Jason O'Connell MS
Shadow Economy Minister
Adrian Mason MS
Shadow Counsel General
Vikki Howells MS
Senedd Commissioner
Peter Fox MS
Backbencher
Jane Dodds MS
Backbencher
What are the party positions on this?
- Supports devolution of rail infrastructure
- Opposed
- Neutral/No Opinion
Plaid Cymru supports devolution of rail infrastructure, mainly to address what they consider to be the unfairness of the Barnett formula in relation to High Speed 2.
- Supportive
- Opposes devolution of rail infrastructure
- Neutral/No Opinion
Reform UK is opposed to additional devolved powers for Wales, and has opposed devolution of rail infrastructure over concerns about a lack of technical expertise.
- Supportive
- Opposed
- Mixed Views
Labour’s policy position has gradually changed from supporting devolution of rail infrastructure to supporting higher UK Government investment in the Welsh rail network.
- Supportive
- Opposes
- Mixed Views
The Conservatives have supported calls for Wales to receive a Barnett Formula consequential related to HS2, but do not necessarily support devolution of rail infrastructure.
- Supports devolution of rail infrastructure
- Opposed
- Neutral/No Opinion
Green Party policy is to support devolution of rail infrastructure.
- Supports devolution of rail infrastructure
- Opposed
- Neutral/No Opinion
Jane Dodds has said on the record that she supports devolution of rail infrastructure.
Who is responsible?
UK Department for Transport
Network Rail (until 2027)
Great British Railways (from 2027)
What's the UK Government's position on this?
In February 2026, the UK Government announced a £14 billion “pipeline/wishlist” of rail investment in Wales to be delivered over the next 15 years1, though only £445 million has actually been committed (to new stations between Cardiff and Bristol).
What have the Senedd's Committees said?
Nothing has been discussed yet.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit.
Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat.
In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis.
Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor.
Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu.
Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis.
Relevant Votes
Nothing to see yet.
Further Reading
- BBC Wales (17th February 2026). “New railway stations part of £14bn UK government funding promise“
Related Issues
