New train stations part of £14bn UK government rail funding promise

Plans to "transform" Wales's railways will be boosted by £14bn of UK government investment, the prime minister has said.

Sir Keir Starmer said the spending commitment towards rail infrastructure improvements was "investment for the long term" and put "Wales on the front foot".

Transport for Wales's (TFW) plan for improvements is in addition to building stations at Magor and Undy, Llanwern, Cardiff East, Newport West, Somerton, Cardiff Parkway and Deeside industrial park, which have already been proposed.

A Welsh government source told the BBC the funding announcement was "the biggest day in devolution", but opposition parties accused the Labour UK government of "reheating" old announcements.

The UK government has not said when the money will be made available or over what period.

It had already announced £445m for rail projects in Wales at last June's spending review, and has now explained that money will go towards building each of the seven stations.

Initial work on five of the south east stations will begin later this year, with construction on two of them beginning in 2029.

While no timescales have been announced, it is expected that Magor and Undy will be the first station to be completed.

The UK government claims Cardiff Parkway in east Cardiff - whose private developers had plans for the station approved in January 2025 after years of delays - could serve 800,000 passengers every year and support around 6,000 jobs.

Cardiff Central Station is also being upgraded with work due to begin this spring.

Announcing the funding commitment, Sir Keir said: "For too long, Wales has been let down by a UK government unwilling to do the hard yards and build the future they deserve.

"This government is turning the page on historic dither and delay with seven new stations, thousands of jobs, and a generational commitment to build a rail network fit for Wales' future."

First Minister Eluned Morgan said: "We are now in an unprecedented position to deliver the next chapter of transformation for rail services in Wales."

The plans are included in TFW's latest vision document, which sets out a dozens of projects to boost the rail network in Wales.

It includes "Cardiff crossrail" extensions to Newport Road, direct services between Cardiff and Liverpool, a station at St Clears, services between west Wales and Bristol, and more trains to Pembroke Dock.

According to the UK government, TFW estimates the total cost of all the schemes under consideration to be "up to £14bn".

UK ministers say the "exact, additional funding allocations" will be confirmed at future spending reviews, but that the UK government is committed to delivering the schemes "as quickly as possible".

The announcement comes with less than three months to go until May's Senedd election, with the polls consistently suggesting that Labour is lagging behind Plaid Cymru and Reform UK.

The past year has seen tensions between some Labour politicians in Cardiff and their colleagues in London, with those in the Senedd accusing Sir Keir's government of failing to deliver enough for Wales.

Morgan recently said the prime minister would only be welcome to campaign in Wales if he brought "goodies" such as investment commitments.

Rail funding for Wales has been a long-running issue in Welsh politics in the absence of any knock-on funding as a result of the HS2 development in England.

The UK government has faced repeated calls from all the parties in the Senedd to deliver extra rail investment for Wales, both under Labour and the Conservatives.

A Welsh government source said the announcement had followed two years of "quiet work" behind the scenes.

"To have the green light in a £14bn transformation is enormous and now just need the rail industry to move as fast as possible," they said.

The Welsh Conservatives accused Labour of cutting rail funding by half compared to what was delivered by previous Tory UK governments.

Sam Rowlands, a Tory Member of the Senedd (MS), added it was "disappointing" there there was no commitment to follow through with UK Conservative government plans to electrify the north Wales mainline, "a project that businesses and communities have long called for".

Plaid Cymru's Westminster Leader, Liz Saville Roberts, said the announcement would "feel like déjà vu to many people in Wales", saying the new stations had already been announced in last year's Spending Review.

"Reheating old promises is not the generational transformation Wales was promised," she said.

Welsh Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick also accused the government of "reheating" old announcements ahead of the Senedd election.

"There is still no commitment to electrifying the north Wales or south Wales mainlines, something businesses consistently tell us is essential to unlocking real economic growth across the whole country."

A Reform UK Wales spokesperson said that during Welsh Labour's time in government "they've shamefully underfunded our transport network, and failed to deliver key projects like the M4 Relief Road".

A Green party spokesperson called for rail infrastructure to be fully devolved to Wales.

"People have had enough of the UK government starving Wales of rail investment, then spinning a small proportion of what we're owed as something ground-breaking," they said.

In March, BBC Wales is holding a live debate in Wrexham with a panel of politicians ahead of the Senedd election. Click here to apply to be in the audience.