The public are being asked for their opinions in a consultation launched today about proposals to provide more trains in the Swansea Bay area, but Transport for Wales has admitted that its plans for developing two routes and opening stations will depend on financial support from London. The proposals have been unveiled only a few days after the Welsh Government protested about the lack of funding for Wales in the Budget.

The Budget proposals have angered the Welsh Government, which said: ‘Promises by the UK Government to deliver a 14 billion pound commitment to put right decades of rail underfunding have been kicked further down the tracks.’ Deputy minister for transport Mark Hooper said 30 million pounds for Cardiff Parkway was ‘an insult to the people of Wales’.