Railways Bill

Lord Wigley Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 7th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wigley (PC)]

My Lords, I too congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Wilson, on his valedictory speech and wish him a very happy and long retirement.

This Bill has had a long gestation period but, if anything, that has made such legislation—or at least parts of it—all the more necessary. As far as Plaid Cymru is concerned, the Bill is very much a parson’s egg. There are parts we welcome, such as those elements which consolidate aspects of the service into public ownership. It is my party’s view that what is an essential public service, and in many cases a monopoly public service, should be in public ownership. There are also parts of the Bill about which we have reservations, such as the failure to involve the Government of Wales in decision-making on key rail issues. This was highlighted by Plaid Cymru MP Ann Davies in the Commons on 9 December. As she said, Wales does not seek a token consultation which delivers nothing, and that is very often what we have had. Wales wants and needs control over rail services in Wales; this was demanded also by Labour Senedd members on a number of occasions.

Then there is the strong feeling in Wales, and not just in Plaid Cymru, that the Bill misses an opportunity to put right a long-running sore about the totally cynical manner in which railway services in Wales are funded. The financial settlement between the Treasury and Wales, based on the Barnett formula, which has been tweaked a couple of times, is based on providing Wales with a tranche of cash to counterbalance railway expenditure on rail services meant for England. That is usually about 6% of the sum total, which in itself is a reasonable sum.

However, if projects are deemed to serve rail users in both Wales and England, that funding formula does not apply. So that gives an easy escape hatch for the Treasury to avoid providing rail funding for Wales; it just designates railway investment in England as being there to serve Wales. This is quite outrageous and was a factor in the recent election result in Wales, I have no doubt. It means that projects such as the Oxford to Cambridge rail upgrade are seen as ones which exist to serve Wales, so we get no Barnett consequential. Nor do we get a Barnett consequential for Northern Powerhouse Rail or for the huge HS2 project linking London and Birmingham. If Wales got its Barnett entitlement, we would be getting £6 billion more for railway investment in Wales.

Last year, Labour Senedd members pressed on this injustice with Prime Minister Starmer, but they were ignored. They, like Welsh Labour MPs, have zero clout with the present UK Labour Government. That is why, in part, they were swept out of office in May’s elections, and why they will lose most of their Commons seats in Wales in the next election.

It is little short of a tragedy that Labour has fiddled the Barnett formula to deny Wales the railway funding which it needs. At this stage, I just ask the Minister: will he ask the new Labour Government when they come into office—a Government who may have a strategy for fairer regional policy—to look again at this issue and so enable Wales to develop its railways in a manner which answers its social and economic needs? Wales’s population settlement pattern is ideal for railway services: 80% of the population live in linear communities along the coastlines or on the valley floors, where people are within reasonable walking distance of railway lines.

I readily acknowledge that rail services in Wales have improved since devolution in 1999. When I entered the Assembly, as it then was, there was only one through train between Cardiff and Holyhead each day. It was appallingly overcrowded, with filthy green carriages—the noble Baroness, Lady Humphreys, is nodding; she will well remember this—screeching brakes, broken toilets and totally uncomfortable seats. Transport for Wales has not only provided far better rolling stock and schedules to serve Wales but has also reopened services that had been abandoned, such as the Ebbw Vale to Cardiff link and the Conwy Valley line. Further, the Cardiff-valleys metro is moving ahead, although we need a north Wales coast, Deeside and Wrexham metro, which could also act as an upgrade on a cross-border basis.

Safety considerations are another important aspect that I shall seek to raise in Committee, where I shall table amendments if I have the opportunity. This stems out of the tragic fatal accident in mid-Wales in October 2024. The issue I wish to pursue involves what is known as “dynamic passing”. I shall seek assurances that that was not a factor in the tragic accident to which I referred. I ask the Minister to get briefed on that issue between now and Committee. Plaid Cymru will not oppose the Second Reading of this Bill, which has been backed by the elected House, but I appeal to the Minister to consider the issues that I have raised, particularly regarding Wales.