£40m Welsh rail station upgrade widened

More than £5m is being spent upgrading Llandudno station

Multimillion-pound improvements at several more rail stations have been announced as part of a £40m investment.

Stations at Rhyl, Aberystwyth, Pontypridd and Ystrad Mynach are to be revamped as part of a second round of upgrade work.

A total of £7.9m was spent at Swansea and £1m Porthmadog Harbour Station in the first wave with £5m at Llandudno.

The money comes from the European Regional Development Fund, the Welsh government and rail groups.

The announcement follows a call from Welsh Secretary David Jones for a joined up case to be made for the electrification of the main rail line in north Wales by politicians, councils and business groups.

Earlier this summer the UK government announced that all of the lines in the south Wales valleys network would be electrified in an investment worth more than £350m to improve journey times and stimulate business and promote jobs.

Plans for Rhyl's station upgrade were put forward in May, pending funding approval which has just been confirmed.

The proposal is to "transform Rhyl station to become a true interchange" providing integration with the bus network and help cyclists get across the wider area.