Plaid says rail Bill does nothing to give Wales control over its trains

PLAID Cymru has claimed that the UK Government's Railways Bill locks Wales into a broken funding and governance system and fails to recognise the need to devolve powers over railways to Wales.

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Ahead of the first debate on the Railways Bill in the House of Commons yesterday, Plaid Cymru's transport spokesperson in Westminster, Ann Davies MP, said that while the Bill may simplify rail operations in England, it completely fails to address Wales' lack of control over its own rail infrastructure and the billions in funding the nation loses as a result.

Ms Davies said that the Labour UK Government has "decided to follow the age-old adage that 'for Wales: See England' when it comes to this bill."

She said it was a "travesty" that a nation which built the first steam locomotive, supplied the steel and coal that powered the UK's railways is the "only nation in Great Britain without control of its own network."

The Railways Bill will create Great British Railways (GBR), integrating track and train operations, centralising long-term planning, ticketing and service management for England.