Liberal Democrat plans to invest £600 million in Welsh Railways

2.51.08pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 3rd Aug 2007

Welsh Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson, Kirsty Williams, has welcomed new transport proposals put forward by her Westminster colleagues, which could release £600 million for spending on rail improvements in Wales in the next five years.

Greater spending on public transport is just one of a number of proposals being put forward by the Liberal Democrats to enable a zero carbon transport system by 2050.

Ms Williams said: "Passenger numbers on our railways continue to rise, but the Labour Government has consistently refused to match this with the sort of investment needed to give us a modern, fit-for-purpose, rail network. A high-speed London-Cardiff link, and improvements on the Swansea-Llanelli line, are just two obvious examples of how this money could make a real difference. An expanded and cheaper rail network is the best incentive to get people out of their cars and dissuade them from taking internal air flights. The Liberal Democrats have shown how they would come up with the serious money to transform our public transport - the Welsh Assembly Government should now tell us what it will do to deliver rail improvements and reduce carbon emissions."

Notes:

The Liberal Democrats today published Towards Carbon Free Transport, a policy paper which will be debated at the federal party's autumn conference. It includes proposals to introduce a toll on road freight and a charge on internal air flights, with the money contributing to a new 'Future Transport Fund' to pay for wide-ranging improvements to the rail network. If implemented across the UK, this could provide Wales with £600 million over five years.