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Thursday 19 Jan 2023

Network Rail welcomes new funding in rail for Cardiff and South Wales

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

Network Rail has welcomed funding announced today (19 January) by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) for a new Cardiff Crossrail. 

The £50 million funding has been made available through the UK Government’s Levelling Up fund and will transform travel across Cardiff by connecting communities between Cardiff Bay with the city centre and Cardiff Central train station. With new and enhanced stations, it will also improve accessibility for all. 
 
The decision has been celebrated by Network Rail’s Wales & Borders route as it builds on a series of other railway improvements made by them and Transport for Wales (TfW) in recent years.  
 
That includes electrification to Cardiff along the south Wales mainline which enabled thousands more seats and more frequent services from Cardiff to London; signalling upgrades to improve reliability and accessibility improvements including at stations such as Barry; as well as Welsh Government’s investment in the Core Valley lines. 
 
The announcement from DLUHC also supports TfW’s transformational south Wales Metro scheme which will provide more frequent services on new trains.  
 
Nick Millington, Network Rail’s Wales and Borders interim route director, said: “We are delighted more funding has been made available to transform the railway in Cardiff and south Wales.  
 
“This builds on recent transformational improvements by us and Transport for Wales and demonstrates the importance of a connected multi-modal public transport system. We look forward to working with Transport for Wales, Welsh Government and UK Government to deliver this scheme”