Transport
Secretary Chris Grayling MP announced this morning (20 July) in an article for
Wales Online that the Government has scrapped plans to electrify the main train
line between Swansea and Cardiff.
This comes just
days after the decision to award £6.6bn worth of contracts as part of the next
phase of the high speed rail network between London and Birmingham.
Carolyn Harris,
MP for Swansea East said:
“The
Transport Secretary did not have the decency to formally announce this in
Parliament and waited until the last day before the summer recess to slip this
out. It shows an utter lack of respect for the people of Swansea and South
Wales who have been promised electrification since 2012.
“I have lost
count of the amount of times the Government have denied that this was their
plan, this is yet another Tory U-turn that will impact heavily on Wales.
“With rail
electrification now scrapped, I worry for the future of Swansea Bay Tidal
Lagoon and the Swansea Bay City Deal.”
Mike Hedges AM said….. ‘I agree with
Carolyn; this is very bad news for South West Wales. The Tories say one thing
and do another when it comes to the people of Wales. Other areas where
electrification projects have been cancelled for the last part of a route, have
seen services on the part not electrified downgraded and communities on these
routes see service reductions. We will be campaigning hard to ensure that the
Cardiff to Swansea line does not suffer in the same way’
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