Old Oak Common Station
David Chadwick Excerpts(1 day, 12 hours ago)
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David Chadwick (Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe) (LD)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Efford. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson) for securing this important debate.
Wales is a proud industrial nation, which was built on the back of the railways, with the world’s first train operating at Penydarren ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil. It did not carry passengers—it carried coal—but it was a train none the less. However, Wales’s proud contribution to rail in this country has been diminished in recent years by both Government neglect and diminished services from rail providers.
As the development of HS2 continues, the work at Old Oak Common station in London may seem like an isolated project in the heart of England, with little consequence elsewhere. However, the implications for Wales are substantial and far-reaching. Construction work at Old Oak Common is set to impact services along the south Wales main line until 2030—five whole years during which Welsh travellers will face slower and more disruptive journeys into London. In addition to longer journey times, the disruption is expected to reduce the number of available seats, diminishing the already poor capacity and connectivity, with fewer direct trains to London reducing resilience to recover from any delays.
The disruption in services for residents across south Wales, including those in my constituency who use Great Western Railway services at Neath and Newport, comes without any significant long-term benefit to them. HS2 does not involve a single mile of track in Wales, yet the previous Conservative Government decided to class the project as an “England and Wales” project, a designation that Labour has taken an active political choice to keep, despite their own Ministers in Wales admitting it is deeply unjust. This means that Northern Ireland and Scotland both received consequential funding to spend on transport, while Wales received not a penny more—particularly none of the estimated £4 billion that it should have received as a result of the project.
Even ignoring HS2, Wales is already underfunded, as the hon. Member for Caerfyrddin (Ann Davies) has mentioned, when it comes to investment in rail, receiving just 1% of rail investment in the UK despite having 11% of the country’s rail network. That is having tangible real-life impacts. In my own constituency, the already limited service along the Heart of Wales line is being cut further.
Altogether, it seems that, despite Labour promising a change in how Wales is treated from when the Conservatives were in power, they have continued with a business-as-normal approach. It is completely inappropriate that my constituents, and people across Wales, are now expected to deal with a further reduction in services for several years, for a project in London that will provide no benefit to them, while they continue to be robbed of investment in their own local services. This Labour Government must listen to the Welsh people and ensure that this disruption is minimised and that Wales receives its fair share when it comes to rail funding.