HS2 to cost Welsh passengers time and cash - Plaid

Building London's new HS2 rail station will see Welsh passengers "robbed" of time and money, an MP has said.

Construction, at Old Oak Common in west London, will add at least 15 minutes to journeys to London on multiple dates until 2030 as trains go to Euston instead of Paddington. The UK government said it was working to minimise disruption.

Despite being entirely in England, Wales has received no extra funding from UK ministers as a result of the high-speed rail project.

Plaid Cymru's Ann Davies told MPs "it's well documented that Wales is being robbed of £4bn in consequential funding from HS2, now we learn that Welsh passengers will be robbed of their time".

Caerfyrddin MP Davies was speaking in a parliamentary debate on the impact of Old Oak Common station on rail services to the west of England and Wales.

"Trains travelling along the Carmarthen to London line could be cut off from Paddington and diverted to Euston for at least seven years due to the construction of Old Oak Common," she said.

She asked UK transport minister Lilian Greenwood "why the people of Wales should be denied a modern, fast and reliable railway, like those of other European countries?"

"Despite having 5% of the UK population and 11% of track miles, Wales has only received 1-2% of rail enhancement funding in recent years," she said.

The proportion of electrified route in England was 44%, she added, while in Wales it was just 7%.

"Old Oak Common is yet another example of how unjust the current arrangements are for Wales."

How designers intend the interior of the new station to look

Greenwood told MPs said Old Oak Common was a "crucial enabler" for the government's "growth mission" that would help improve connections to other services but she recognised concerns about the impact its construction on Wales and the west of England.

The rail industry has been "working hard" to prepare for the works and invested £30m to mitigate its impact, she added.

The minister confirmed that rail services between south Wales and London are likely to be slightly slower on a permanent basis because of Old Oak Common, but that no decisions had been taken as to whether all GWR trains would add it as a stop in the future.

Greenwood said: "The station is being constructed to allow all Great Western services to call, but no decision has been made on the future timetable."

"Nonetheless building this station requires a realignment of the Great Western mainline to curve around new platforms.

"Unfortunately that means that even trains that do not stop at the station will have a small increase in journey times."

An artist's impression of the station's exterior

A number of MPs - including some from Wales - have voiced concerns about all GWR services stopping at Old Oak Common once its built and the impact this would have on journey times.

Greenwood said: "There will be a small but permanent journey time impact for all services passing through Old Oak Common without stopping."

She said the government was looking at what could be done to get that down from the estimated 90 seconds.

However, if some or all GWR services were to stop at Old Oak Common this would add further time to journeys, said Greenwood.

"A suggestion has been made that this could add four to seven minutes to journey times. Obviously that would slow down those services, but of course would allow potential interchange with the Elizabeth line and access to parts of London via the Elizabeth line and potentially via London Overground."

Responding to concerns from Ann Davies about Welsh railway investment, Greenwood said the Wales rail board meets regularly to discuss matters of interest to both the UK and Welsh government.

UK ministers and Welsh transport minister Ken Skates would be meeting imminently to discuss transport in Wales, she added.

The next phase of disruption will be between the 27 and 29 December when trains from south Wales to London will be diverted from Paddington to Euston.

Details on the 2026 works schedule are yet to be confirmed.