On the surface, pumping £14bn of UK and Welsh Government funds into railways, new trains, more stations and better services seems like money well spent.

It is.

It’s just that it’s not being shared our fairly across Wales.

Live in south Wales, the Borders or north Wales, you’ll be over the moon to see seven new stations coming – the first of which will open late next year. The train and bus hubs are all part of Transport for Wales funding for 43 projects – no doubt welcome news for those being serviced by the huge investment.

Sir Keir Starmer and Wales First Minister Eluned Morgan were ecstatic when they took the cover off the plans in Cardiff last week, with the Prime Minister hailing it as plans that would put Wales “on the front foot”.

The funds allow for seven train stations at Magor and Undy, Llanwern, Cardiff East, Newport West, Somerton, Cardiff Parkway and Deeside.

Sir Keir said: "This government is turning the page on historic dither and delay with seven new stations, thousands of jobs, and a generational commitment to build a rail network fit for Wales' future."

First Minister Morgan said: "We are now in an unprecedented position to deliver the next chapter of transformation for rail services in Wales. We have secured long-term commitments to key projects and a renewed ambition for our rail network."

The schemes stretch across Wales and include "Cardiff crossrail" extensions to Newport Road, Pierhead Street and Alexandra Head; new stations on the Core Valley lines; electrification to Holyhead and Llandudno; money for St Clears station; Pembroke Dock and Milford Haven frequency enhancements; Swansea Bay and West Wales Metro Main line stations; a shuttle between Bridgend and Maesteg; capacity improvements at Chester; and direct service between Cardiff to Liverpool.

A rosy outlook then?

Not quite.

Critics say much of the funding has already been unveiled and the announcement in Cardiff was merely a repackaging of plans to make it all sound better with a Senedd elections coming in May.

And for passengers across mid and west Wales who rely on the Cambrian Line linking Shrewsbury with Machynlleth, Aberystwyth and Pwllheli, there are just vague promises and a brief mention that somewhere between £50m and £150m is to be spent on track and signalling upgrades.

Ceredigion MS Elin Jones is decidedly unimpressed.

She said: “This £14b rail announcement feels like a repackaged, overhyped pre-election promise.

“There’s no certainty whether all this funding currently exists in budgets and certainly there’s zero equity of investment across Wales.

“Rural mid and west Wales in particular are neglected by this announcement. It certainly seems to be nothing more than a list of pet projects by UK and Welsh Labour, mainly in their favoured southeast and northeast Wales.

“We need a proper rail strategy for all of Wales to link north and south as well as east and west. I’d want to see a dedicated express service running between Aberystwyth and Cardiff. And of course we need the long-promised new rolling stock for the mid Wales line.”

Ms Jones believes it’s time to fully devolve rail infrastructure to the Senedd from Westminster and finally provide the HS2 multi-billion consequential owed to Wales.

“At that point we could also properly start to plan for a west coast railway linking Bangor to Carmarthen. That is the transformation that would finally bring rail equity to every part of Wales,” she commented.

For passengers who rely on the Cambrian Line, there a sense that too little has and is being spent and the train route is failing to live up to its fullest potential. SARPA, the Shrewsbury Aberystwyth Rail Passengers’ Association, believes the line needs better reliability and more investment.

SARPA Chair Dr Jeff Smith said: “Given that usage of the Cambrian Lines is at its highest level this century, possibly ever, further investment in the line is definitely necessary for the line to achieve its full potential.

“SARPA wants to see an all-year hourly service on the Cambrian Main Line between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury, better reliability and more capacity.

“With an improved service, the line could be even more successful, supporting communities, growing the local economy and helping the environment.”

Hourly services has been promised for a decade and still hasn’t happened. And the new trains – so-called “197s” – have yet to be introduced.

Those trains are in use elsewhere across Wales, have fewer seats, a single toilet for two carriages, and are considered to be generally best suited to commuter services. On the Cambrian Line, where journeys are less frequent, longer, and demand from students of holiday season users stretch current capacity limits, there’s angst over the new 197s.

“With the forthcoming new trains having fewer seats and only one toilet per two car unit, it's more important than ever that all Cambrian Main Line services run with at least four carriages,” the SARPA chair says.

“The Cambrian Lines are a long-distance vital lifeline for communities through mid Wales and along the west coast and deserve adequate capacity and reliability. We are also continuing to push for a full hourly service on the Cambrian Main Line.

“From an infrastructure perspective, we need additional passing loops on the line, improving reliability and allowing a full hourly service to coexist with freight and charter trains, as well as paving the way for a possible half hourly service in the future.

Dr Smith said that although TfW's proposed investment pipeline allocates a future £50m -£150m for infrastructure improvements on the Cambrian at some point in the future, likely less than 1 per cent of the total indicative spend across the network, the Westminster Government have provided no guarantees that they will fund them.

“We look forward to further discussions with TfW and others to try to ensure that the line can benefit from such spending. Enhancements to the Welsh railway network and indeed the Marches Line have been severely underfunded both in relation to population share and in relation to the length of our railway network for many years.

“We would urge the Westminster Government either to ensure a fair share of infrastructure spending for the railways in Wales in the future or, if they are unwilling to invest in Welsh rail, to devolve both responsibility and sufficient funding to allow the Welsh Government to carry out the enhancements that we need to see.

And SARPA also note that the lack on funding for mid Wales is disappointing.

“Of the confirmed spending plans, it's disappointing that none of the forthcoming rail infrastructure funding will be coming to mid Wales,” Dr Smith says.

“Mid Wales often appears to be seen as an afterthought due to its rurality but this makes the railway even more important as a lifeline for communities along the route. Given the importance of the railway to the entire area, it's crucial that we see our fair share of investment to improve the railway infrastructure, support an improved service and provide a service that allows communities along the line to thrive.”

For MP Liz Saville-Roberts, the announcement of massive funding in railways feels “like déjà vu to many people.”

“These stations were already announced in last year’s Spending Review, with funding spread over a decade,” she said.

“Reheating old promises is not the generational transformation Wales was promised.

“While investment in any part of our rail network is welcome, large parts of western and rural Wales remain overlooked, with slow and infrequent services and poor north to south connectivity continuing to hold communities back.

“Wales has been systematically short-changed on rail for decades, not least through the misclassification of HS2, which has deprived us of billions of pounds in consequential funding. Without correcting that injustice and devolving rail infrastructure powers in full, Wales will continue to be reliant on short-term funding cycles and overhyped announcements from Westminster.

“A truly transformative approach would mean fair funding, full powers over rail, and a rail strategy that serves the whole of Wales.”

Steve Witherden MP says he’s disappointed more money isn’t being spent in mid Wales.

"While the investment… in Welsh rail is good news for the country as a whole, the absence of any new projects for mid Wales can only be seen as a bitter disappointment,” he notes. "Here again, as with healthcare provision, the north and south are prioritised over the middle and west because of population density. We deserve a fair deal.

"I will continue to support the campaign to reopen Carno Station, and I hope to make it easier for MPs to lobby Great British Railways - the new state-owned operator - into restoring services for under-served areas, through my proposed amendment to the Railways Bill.”

TfW says the Cambrian Line “is not part of the funding approved in the 2025 spending review, but it's part of the overall Rail Vision ask for Wales and Borders and the commitment to future funding given by UK Government that allows for up to £150m in improvements and new trains.

“As part of future working with Welsh Government and UK Government, Wales Rail Board will take a lead on determining which schemes are put forward for future funding rounds, but UK Government makes the final funding allocation for non-devolved assets.

“Other investment in day to day maintenance and renewal of the railway is managed by Network Rail, and bid on a five-yearly basis,” TfW says, adding that it is based on line and passenger demand

TfW says it has invested in the Cambrian Line and has improved capacity, strengthened revenue protection and increased its staff onboard.

“Our priority is getting the brand-new Class 197 trains into service on the Cambrian Line during 2026 with a view to increasing frequency on this line. We remain committed to planning a timetable that supports both local residents and the region’s thriving tourism economy,” the agency says.

TfW says that plans for funding for Carno station was submitted by Cardiff for UK Government New Station Funding in 2021, but that bid was unsuccessful. It was highlighted in the letter from the UK Secretary of State for Transport that whilst the application for Carno was well put together and had a reasonable strategic case the railway industry did not support the station proposal at the time due to its expected impact on operational performance/reliability and other factors such the proposed location near the level crossing would add costs.

“Alongside the Welsh Government we remain in dialogue with Carno Station Action Group over the proposals,” the agency says.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have also criticised the rail plas, noting that the majority of funding is centred on south Wales.

“By contrast, west Wales will see no benefit from the confirmed funding. The West Wales Line serving Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, the Cambrian Line serving Ceredigion, and the Heart of Wales Line serving Carmarthenshire have not received any additional funding, “ the party says.

“The much-publicised £14 billion figure relates to the estimated cost of a long-term pipeline of potential projects identified by Transport for Wales over a generation. It is not a funded package and remains subject to future Spending Reviews. The current Spending Review settlement runs to the financial year 2029/30. There is no guaranteed timetable for the majority of schemes included in that figure and no additional money has been committed.”