The UK and Welsh governments have agreed a long-term plan to upgrade rail services across Wales, backing a Transport for Wales (TfW) vision that officials say could support thousands of jobs and unlock new housing and business developments.<\/p>\n
The intergovernmental Wales Rail Board will use TfW\u2019s Today, Tomorrow, Together document as the blueprint for a pipeline of projects that ministers say could total as much as \u00a314bn as schemes are developed. The UK Government has formally endorsed the plan and pledged to work with the Welsh Government to deliver projects \u201cas quickly as possible\u201d, following commitments made in the 2025 Spending Review.<\/p>\n
Scale and jobs<\/strong><\/p>\n Ministers say the programme will directly create more than 1,000 permanent positions and around 6,000 construction jobs, while supporting additional employment across the economy. Government figures cited in the vision estimate wider economic benefits of about \u00a36.3bn, up to 13.3M extra rail journeys a year, 3.8M fewer car journeys and annual CO\u2082 savings of about 55,000t the 43 schemes in the TfW plan are delivered.<\/p>\n Planned investment from the Spending Review earmarked at least \u00a3445M for Welsh rail enhancements in this spending period: roughly \u00a3302M for infrastructure work, \u00a395M for further development, and \u00a348M to enhance the Core Valley Lines.<\/p>\n New stations and services<\/strong><\/p>\n A central plank of the work is the construction of seven new stations, funded from almost half a billion pounds identified in the Spending Review. The stations are Magor and Undy, Llanwern, Cardiff East, Newport West, Somerton, Cardiff Parkway and a station to serve Deeside Industrial Park.<\/p>\n Work on five stations between Cardiff and Severn Tunnel Junction \u2013 Magor and Undy, Llanwern, Cardiff East, Newport West and Somerton \u2013 is due to start this year, with the expectation that construction of two will begin by 2029. Magor and Undy is expected to be the first completed. The Burns Commission, set up to identify ways of easing M4 congestion, first proposed these south-east Wales stops in 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Spending Review 2025 assigned \u00a390M for these five stations over the next five years.<\/p>\n Cardiff Parkway, a private-led development adjoining a proposed new station at Hendre Lakes, is envisaged as a catalyst for employment and regeneration in east Cardiff. Ministers say it could serve about 800,000 passengers a year and support roughly 6,000 jobs across the associated business park. The UK Government has agreed to work with Welsh ministers and private investors to take the project forward, although precise funding shares and delivery timetables will depend on further development work.<\/p>\n In north-east Wales, a new stop serving Deeside Industrial Park is linked to plans to increase capacity on the Wrexham\u2013Liverpool line. Ministers say upgrades there will allow two trains per hour, improve freight handling at Padeswood cement works and include safety, capacity and line-speed work at Buckley.<\/p>\n Stations and junction upgrades<\/strong><\/p>\n Other named projects include a major transformation of Cardiff Central station. The UK Government has allocated a further \u00a359.8M for the project, bringing its contribution to \u00a377.8M; the scheme also has funding from the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal and the Welsh Government to meet the \u00a3140M cost. Work is due to begin in spring 2026, with most construction complete by 2029. Bam is taking the project forward, with AtkinsR\u00e9alis as multi-disciplinary design partner.<\/p>\n To boost service frequencies in and around Cardiff, the UK Government plans to invest up to \u00a330M on capacity improvements at a junction west of Cardiff station over the next three years, aligning with a 2028 renewal of that junction.<\/p>\n Separately, at least \u00a340M has been allocated to increase speeds on relief lines between Cardiff and Severn Tunnel Junction, creating two additional high-speed lines designed to give more flexibility for freight and passenger services. A full business case for this work is due in spring 2026.<\/p>\n The government also confirmed around \u00a330M for safety and service upgrades on the North Wales Coast Main Line. The programme includes replacing four high-risk level crossings at Prestatyn and Abergele with two accessible footbridges, with work expected to complete in spring 2027 and an associated TfW service increase of roughly 50% from May 2026.<\/p>\n Long-term plans in TfW\u2019s document include the \u00a32.1bn Network North Wales plan<\/a>, the Swansea Bay and West Wales Metro, future phases of the South Wales Metro<\/a>, upgrades to the North Wales and South Wales Main Lines and enhancements to Marches services and Mid Wales services.<\/p>\n TfW stated: \u201cAs part of our long-term pipeline, \u00a34.4bn of projects are already developed and ready for delivery, with the potential to scale to \u00a310bn as funding allows.\u201d<\/p>\n