TIME FOR SOME CELTIC FRINGE BENEFITS?

If the Unionists want the Union to work then one of the bottom lines has to be fair funding for Wales, we have been net contributors to the central coffers for a few hundred years. The Westminster Government brought in the Beeching rail cuts that decimated the railway network in Wales (thanks for that by the way – that really helped!). Since Beeching we have had an ill-thought out rail privatisation that has not helped when it comes to an integrated rail service.

Since the devolution process began Westminster has retained control of main line rail development, including any proposed electrification of railway lines here in Wales. Its worth noting that the main line from Glasgow to London was electrified in 1974, yet we don’t have a single mile of public electrified railway in Wales. This makes us a member of a fairly grim if exclusive club of European countries that have no electrified railways – the other members being Albania and Moldova.

If we are lucky we might get a bit, as the current plans for electrification of the Great Western Line (which originally intended to stop at Bristol) have been extended to Cardiff (belatedly the last Labour Government extended this to Swansea) before the Con Dems cut back the plan so the line will only be electrified to Cardiff. While this is better than nothing it stills means that main line rail electrification in Wales will remain pretty token, especially as there are currently no plans to electrify the line to Swansea, Carmarthen and further west.

The recent announcement that the Westminster Government plans to push on with the HS2 plan to connect London and Birmingham, with potentially further options for additional connections to Leeds and Manchester (and even Heathrow) is good news for rail users, even if by the time the plans come to fruition most of us will be unable to afford to let the train take the strain. The HS2 is a tidy £33 billion investment in England with scant measurable benefit for Wales, a bit like the Olympic Games even though it is a project that primarily benefits England there should be a ‘Barnett consequential benefit for Wales.

This could mean if fairly applied that would mean over the course of the building of HS2 during the next decade and a half that Wales gets an extra £1.9 billion for transport. That £1.9 billion could ensure that railway services across Wales are improved and that old lines surveyed for potential reopening as well as creating jobs within our communities.

I like to think that David Cameron and the Con Dems will work hard with the Labour Welsh Government in Cardiff to ensure that we don’ lose this opportunity to benefit even indirectly from HS2? Perhaps not!