IIRC▸ , the structure of the deal was that Westminster would technically have fronted the Welsh Assembly's contribution, which would be repaid through a facilities charge on the infrastructure and would effectively mean that the Wales & West franchise (and effectively the Assembly, through subsidies) would have been paying significant sums back to Westminster each year.
That is pretty much what the
CP5▸ enhancement delivery plans used to say:
Key assumptions
• The business case is centred on efficiencies from an electric fleet as well as growth in demand from customers.
• The Welsh Government is the funder and will specify the scope and outputs to recommence development of the scheme in 2015.
• The scheme is funded through RAB borrowing, a capital contribution from the DfT» and a facility charge will be paid by the Wales & Borders franchise.
But that was for Project WL001 - Welsh Valley Lines Electrification, listed under England and Wales Projects: Wales. For W001b - South Wales Main Line Electrification - which is under England and Wales Projects: Western, it says:
Scope of works
The scope required for this project includes the extension of electrification on the core route as noted below:
• Cardiff (excl.) to Swansea (incl.) (ELR: SWM2 216m 49ch to 190m 68ch
and there is no mention of the Welsh Government.
After the Hendy review, the new delivery plan says this about WL001:
Network Rail’s obligation
Network Rail has delivered its previous obligation to complete development of options for electrification to GRIP▸ stage 2 – this was achieved in early 2014.
The primary funder – the Welsh Government – is now reviewing the scope and future direction of the scheme and all Network Rail development work is on hold. Network Rail’s future obligations will be determined when the review is completed.
...
Great Western Electrification will deliver electrification between Cardiff and Bridgend.
and of W001b it says:
Network Rail’s obligation in CP5 is to complete GRIP Stage 3 and some enabling works. Full delivery of the scheme will not be completed until CP6▸ .
So on that basis the funding regime Noggin describes is for the valley Lines alone. The debate above was about the main line, which was previously treated as all DfT-funded. The delays with electrification mean it has been pushed into CP6, and as a result it is no longer committed funding. That presumably happens just because the DfT funds attached to the
HLOS▸ are time-limited to one CP and fixed as money, not as output.
But the announcement of the agreement to the post-HLOS bickering match, in a speech by David Cameron on 21/11/2014, said (as pre-released by his office):
In his speech to the UK▸ investment summit in Newport, the Prime Minister will announce that the UK government has agreed a funding package with the Welsh government to electrify the Valley Lines.
He will also announce that the UK government will cover the full costs of electrifying the Great Western mainline to Swansea and devolve the Wales and Borders rail franchise, so that the Welsh government decides the new franchise in 2018.
But later on it says:
In order to make this deal happen, the UK government will take over sponsorship and fund delivery of the Cardiff-Bridgend section of the Main Line electrification scheme to Swansea – worth £105 million, and contribute £125 million towards the costs of the wider Valley Lines electrification scheme.
The Welsh government will take over sponsorship and delivery of the Valley Lines project.
From that it does look as if the line from Cardif to Bridgend mysteriously got transferred from the main line to the Valleys part of the electrification, and had to be put back. The may be a result of earlier history, as "PR13 Initial Industry Plan Supporting Document - Definition of proposed CP5 enhancements" (September 2011) includes this under "Great Western electrification":
On 23rd July 2009 the Department for Transport (DfT) published Britain’s Transport Infrastructure: Rail Electrification, confirming government support for a programme of electrification. The projects supported, to be RAB funded, were the GWML▸ (to Bristol, Oxford, Newbury and Swansea) and Liverpool – Manchester via the Chat Moss route.
On 26th October 2009 Network Rail published the Network RUS▸ : Electrification Strategy, with a core strategy consisting of electrification of MML» , GWML and two strategic infill schemes (Liverpool – Manchester and Gospel Oak – Barking).
On 1st March 2011 the Secretary of State for Transport confirmed the electrification of the Great Western Main Line between Cardiff, Bristol and Didcot (having previously announced electrification in November 2010 from London to Oxford, Didcot and Newbury).
So Cardiff-Swansea, having been in earlier versions of this document, is no longer included in the proposed list of outputs. But it is still mentioned in two places, suggesting the editing to remove it was not 100% successful. The Valleys project is listed line by line, followed by:
- discussions are ongoing with the Welsh Government and DfT regarding extending the scope to include the Ebbw Vale branch, the Maesteg branch and Cardiff – Bridgend via the main line. These will now be considered as increments against the original remit;
So maybe it's not surprising that no-one was ever quite sure which project Cardiff-Bridgend was part of. But while the (ex-)PM's statement is clear enough, you can see why (as Rhygdaled says) every subsequent statement about Cardiff-Swansea has to have the rider "including Cardiff-Bridgend" tacked on, for avoidance of doubt.
But if Hendy was right to say Cardiff-Swansea now depends on the Welsh Government, it looks as if DfT thinks its shifting into CP6 entirely cancels its (and HMG's) earlier commitment to fund it without a Welsh contribution. Unless he got mixed up...or was misreported.
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