Welsh Government seeks £1bn rail advance, with £302m allocated to 2029-30
The Welsh Government wants the Chancellor to find an extra £1bn of Welsh rail funding in the 28 October Budget, on top of £302m already allocated for upgrades to 2029-30.
Cabinet Minister for Finance Elin Jones set out the request in a letter to the Chancellor, summarised in a Welsh Government statement on 27 September. The £1bn would not be new money on top of the £14bn figure. It would be drawn forward from that total so that improvement schemes in Wales can move faster.
What the £14bn figure covers
The £14bn dates from 18 February 2026, when the UK Government endorsed the Transport for Wales vision, Today, Tomorrow, Together, as the basis for the project pipeline of the Wales Rail Board. In its announcement, the UK Government gave £14bn as the upper end of Transport for Wales’ current cost estimate for all schemes under consideration. It said the exact extra funding would be settled at future Spending Reviews.
The money already committed comes from the 2025 Spending Review, which set aside at least £445m for rail enhancements in Wales. That total is made up of £302m for infrastructure upgrades in the current Spending Review period and £95m for further development work. Another £48m went to the Welsh Government for Core Valley Lines enhancements.
| Scheme | UK Government funding | Timing stated in February 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Five new stations in south-east Wales: Magor and Undy, Llanwern, Cardiff East, Newport West, Somerton | £90m over four years | Work on all five to start in 2026, construction of two expected to begin by 2029 |
| South Wales Relief Lines line-speed upgrade, Cardiff to Severn Tunnel Junction | At least £40m | Full Business Case expected by spring 2026 |
| Cardiff Central station | £59.8m, taking UK Government funding for the project to £77.8m | Work to start in spring 2026, most of it complete by 2029 |
| Cardiff West Junction capacity | Up to £30m over three years | To be delivered with a junction renewal planned for 2028 |
| North Wales coast main line safety and services | About £30m | Two accessible footbridges replacing four level crossings in Prestatyn and Abergele, with completion expected in spring 2027 |
The largest of these named allocations is £90m, for five new stations in south-east Wales. Timings are those planned when the UK Government announced the £14bn pipeline on 17 February 2026 and may have moved since.
Where the 1% figure comes from
The Welsh Government says the £302m equals 1% of what Network Rail spends in England and Wales in the current period. It has not published the calculation behind that share.
The same share appears in notes to a Welsh Government statement issued before UK finance ministers met in Cardiff on 17 September. They described the £302m as the only part of the £14bn allocated in the Spending Review period that runs to 2029-30. They also put the full sum over 15 years. The same notes set out the request for a further £1bn within that period, and Jones said she would press for more rail investment at the meeting.
Other requests in the letter
Rail is one of four proposals in the Welsh Government’s summary of the letter. Jones also asked for help with household costs. That covers an end to the freeze on Local Housing Allowance rates and protection for Cynnal, the Welsh child payment, against deductions for tax and benefits. The letter further asks the Chancellor to undo real-terms reductions in the Welsh Government’s day-to-day and capital budgets and to back plans to decarbonise Pembrokeshire Power Station.
The Budget is due on 28 October. Neither Welsh Government statement lists the rail schemes an extra £1bn would pay for.
