Network Rail has published plans for a £2bn investment to improve Plans for £2bn investment to improve the railway across the Wales and Borders.
The plan represents a 28 percent increase in spending compared to the last funding period (2014-2019) to increase reliability and improve performance over the next five years.
It is the first time that the Wales and Borders funding plan has been developed by Network Rail Wales and Borders and is made up of over a thousand local schemes.
The plan focuses on maintaining and renewing the railway to improve reliability and punctuality for passengers. This includes investing an additional £27.7m to improve the railway's resilience to extreme weather, £176m on track renewal and £135m to improve signalling in West Wales.
Major work will take place on Barmouth viaduct, where £22m will be invested into renewing the iconic Grade II listed viaduct and also Phase 2 of the Port Talbot re-signalling scheme to improve the reliability in the area.
Network Rail will also install new pumps at Sudbrook pumping station, which pumps water from the Severn Tunnel.
The funding will support Transport for Wales' significant investment of £5bn over 15 years, which will see passengers benefiting from new trains, improved stations and increased capacity across the network.
What did the officials say?
Bill Kelly, route managing director for Network Rail in Wales and Borders, said:
“We've put passengers and our freight customers first in developing our five-year plan, which will make the railway more reliable for the thousands of people who use it every day.
“Our focus over the next five years will rightly be on operating a railway people can rely on to get them to their destinations safely and on time, and we will be working closely with Transport for Wales to maximise every investment opportunity for the benefit of our passengers and freight customers.”
James Price, Transport for Wales CEO said:
“It's encouraging to see Network Rail committing £2bn to maintain and renew the railway across our Wales and Borders network. At Transport for Wales we have begun our investment plan of £5bn to transform transport across the sector as a result of which passengers will benefit from new trains, improved and new stations and an overall increase in capacity across the network.
“The customer experience is at the heart of our decision making and planning as we continue to move forward and deliver our vision. We are working collaboratively with Network Rail and through this planned investment, we will create a rail service that the people of Wales can be proud of.”
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Anything of investment note for North Wales? Blink and I might have missed it!
Brilliant news for Wales to have new trains to be used on congested railway lines in Wales. Including the proposed electrification of the GWML to Cardiff and Swansea which could also see existing EMU trains to be operated on aswell Bi-Mode and Tri-Mode and Battery operated trains to also operated on electrified and non-electrified routes in South Wales.