Kit PetersRAIL: Campaigners demand funding answers from next Welsh Government — as Labour pledges direct Milford Haven to London train service
Rail campaigners are calling on the next Welsh Government to press Westminster for a fairer funding deal – warning that ambitious plans for a Swansea Bay Metro and other major upgrades risk remaining on paper without a clear financial commitment.
Railfuture Cymru, an independent organisation representing rail users across Wales, has published a manifesto ahead of Thursday’s Senedd election calling for what it describes as a “customer-centred, boringly reliable railway.”
The group’s Wales chair, Richard Wilcock, said Transport for Wales’s long-term strategy raised fundamental questions about money. Referring to TfW’s vision document Today, Tomorrow, Together – which sets out an ambitious £14 billion pipeline of rail improvements – Wilcock said the key question remained unanswered. “The question is, where is the money?” he said.
The concern is a familiar one across south-west Wales. When TfW published Today, Tomorrow, Together in February, it included a Swansea Bay and West Wales Metro among its long-term ambitions – covering metro services between Swansea and Pontarddulais via Neath, a new Cockett station, Swansea Bay area electrification and enhanced services to Pembroke Dock and Milford Haven.
But Carmarthenshire councillors were quick to raise concerns that the vision was too Swansea-centric, with communities further west potentially left behind.
Welsh Labour has sought to address those concerns directly, pledging a direct rail connection between Milford Haven and London as part of its wider transport programme.
The direct service would build on £50 million of investment to upgrade rail services to the town, with work already underway to transform Milford Haven railway station into a modern public transport interchange in partnership with Pembrokeshire County Council. The upgrade works would also pave the way for an hourly service and level crossing safety improvements.
CGI of Milford Haven Transport Interchange showing a new canopy with seating, raised planting beds and steps leading up to the platform.(Image: Pembrokeshire Council)
First Minister Eluned Morgan said the pledge was about more than infrastructure. “This is about opening Pembrokeshire up – bringing more people to one of the most beautiful parts of Wales, strengthening our tourism sector, and creating new opportunities for local businesses to grow,” she said.
Welsh Labour’s lead candidate for Ceredigion Penfro, Marc Tierney, described the pledge as a potential game-changer for the constituency, calling the combination of investments the kind of infrastructure that communities in west Wales had been waiting for.
Railfuture argues that decades of underinvestment have left the Welsh rail network lagging significantly behind comparable networks in England and Scotland. Its manifesto sets out proposals the group believes could be delivered within the next Senedd term – including more frequent services, improved rolling stock, and better integration between rail and bus networks.
Among the priorities is a minimum service frequency of one train or connecting bus every two hours across the network, alongside action to tackle overcrowding and reliability issues on busy routes. The group also backs further development of metro-style systems in both north and south Wales, including the Swansea Bay area.
A Labour Senedd candidate had already called for a metro link to Ammanford and Llanelli earlier in the campaign, reflecting growing political pressure to extend any metro system beyond Swansea itself. And the future of a potential St Clears station – promised for years but still without a confirmed funding commitment – has also become an election issue.
The funding question is central to all of it. While the UK and Welsh governments jointly endorsed the Today, Tomorrow, Together document in February – with ministers suggesting the pipeline could total up to £14 billion – only £445 million was earmarked from the 2025 Spending Review for Welsh rail enhancements in this spending period.
Critics pointed out that much of the longer-term programme, including the Swansea Bay Metro, remains dependent on future funding decisions that have not yet been made.
Plaid Cymru’s manifesto commits to bringing forward Phase 1 of the Swansea Bay Metro if elected, alongside feasibility studies into reopening the Amman Valley line to passengers. But with no party able to guarantee the full £14 billion pipeline without Westminster funding, Railfuture’s central question remains live whoever wins on Thursday.
Our transport coverage
£14bn metro dream for Swansea — but will West Wales finally get its share?
Our report on the TfW Today, Tomorrow, Together vision and what it means for south-west Wales.
Metro row: Carmarthenshire councillor blasts ‘Swansea-centric’ transport vision
The concerns raised about communities further west being left behind.
Labour candidate backs metro link to Ammanford and Llanelli
The political pressure to extend any metro system beyond Swansea itself.
Candidate demands action on stalled St Clears station after five years of promises
The future of a promised new station that remains unconfirmed.
