Chancellor's £30m pledge for train station is insult to the people of Wales, minister says

A £30m rail funding pledge announced by Chancellor John Healey in the Budget is "an insult to the people of Wales", a Welsh government minister says.

Welsh Transport Minister Mark Hooper said the investment in the proposed Cardiff Parkway station was "a tiny fraction" of the cash needed to improve Welsh rail.

The Plaid Cymru-led Welsh government had called on Healey to bring forward £1bn of the £14bn the UK Labour government had promised for long-term rail funding in Wales.

UK government finance minister Emma Reynolds said the cash was part of a £445m package aimed at tackling years of "chronic under-investment" in rail.

Hooper made the comments after a meeting with the UK government in Whitehall on Thursday.

The proposed Cardiff Parkway in the city's eastern St Mellons area would link passengers on the South Wales Metro network to north Wales, Bristol, Manchester and London.

On Wednesday the chancellor's Budget announcement confirmed cash for three projects in Wales - £2.5m for a science park in Ynys Mon, £11m for a bridge in Port Talbot and £30m for Cardiff Parkway.

UK ministers said that rail funding was part of a £445m package that had been announced at the last Spending Review.

The UK government has already backed plans for five new stations in Cardiff, Newport and Monmouthshire, as well as upgrades in north Wales.

The UK government had previously claimed Cardiff Parkway - whose private developers had plans for the station approved in January 2025 after years of delays - could serve 800,000 passengers every year and support around 6,000 jobs.

Budget documents released on Wednesday said the £30m would "progress delivery" for the scheme.

UK government finance minister Reynolds told Radio Wales Breakfast on Thursday that the £445m to progress rail projects in Wales was because of "chronic underinvestment in Wales" during past Conservative and Tory-Liberal Democrat UK governments.

"We need to clear away the red tape and get the planning in place," she said.

"So the reason that we have given £30m to Cardiff Parkway Rail Station yesterday is because we've done the work together to get the planning in place, so we can get that money flowing."

She said she was "all ready to work" with the Welsh government and Transport for Wales to progress with the project.

Welsh government transport minister Hooper met UK government ministers and officials in Whitehall later on Wednesday to discuss his plans for rail.

He told BBC Wales the £30m announced was a "tiny fraction" of what was needed, saying: "This figure is an insult to the people of Wales."

"The UK government's continued failure to invest in their network in Wales demonstrates, now, more than ever, the need for devolution of rail," he said.

"It's wrong to say these stations aren't shovel-ready. The UK government promised this money in February and since then we've agreed with Network Rail that Transport for Wales will deliver the stations.

"Transport for Wales are ready to start work we just need the UK government to keep their promise. I made this point to the rail minister when I met him today."

The Welsh government said that despite making up 10% of the rail network across Great Britain, just 1% of Network Rail's spending goes to Wales.

Developers had hoped Cardiff Parkway would be operational by 2024, but the planning process was dogged by delays.

Plans were approved by Cardiff council in April 2022, but the broader national interest in the project led the Welsh government under Labour to review the application, before former First Minister Eluned Morgan granted planning permission in January 2025.

Additional reporting by Reem Ahmed