Rail lines may miss out on electrification, warn Lib Dems

Electrification could cut an hour long journey on the Valley lines by ten minutes

Key routes may miss out on a £500m scheme to electrify rail services in the south Wales valleys, the Liberal Democrats have warned.

Electrification of the Ebbw Vale, Barry Island, Vale of Glamorgan, Penarth and Maesteg lines are not mentioned in the latest National Transport Finance Plan.

Welsh ministers' original business case said all the lines would be upgraded.

Ministers said details of all the improvements would be announced after "discussions with the rail industry".

A deal to electrify the lines in the south Wales valleys was struck between the UK and Welsh governments in 2014.

The UK government will pay almost half of the estimated £500m cost but the Welsh government is now in charge of the project.

The Welsh government expects to meet its share of the funding from cost savings and increased revenue.

'Huge concern'

South Wales Central Liberal Democrat AM Eluned Parrott called on Transport Minister Edwina Hart to explain what had happened to the "vanishing Valley lines" in the plans.

"Why is Valley lines electrification, a project that has caused so much controversy, incomplete now it has become the responsibility of the Welsh government to deliver?

"Whilst the National Transport Plan covers the next five years, these schemes don't even appear in the column identified for '2020 and beyond'.

"This will cause huge concern for the commuters who rely on these services, not to mention damage efforts to attract investment into Ebbw Vale, the Vale of Glamorgan and Maesteg."

A Welsh government spokeswoman said: "The National Transport Finance Plan includes details of the improvements, including electrification, to the railway lines we have identified for Metro Phase 2.

"Details of all the improvements to be made to the remaining Valleys lines as part of the Metro project will follow in due course once we have concluded discussions with the rail industry on how we can best deliver our objectives."