Network Rail Wales and Borders is set to benefit from a record £2 billion of Government funding between 2019 and 2024, to provide a safer and more reliable railway for passengers and freight customers.

The five-year funding plan represents a 28% increase on the last five-year funding period (2014-2019).

It will support Transport for Wales’s investment of £5 billion over 15 years, which will see passengers benefitting from new trains, improved stations and increased capacity across the network.

Bill Kelly, route managing director for Network Rail Wales and Borders (www.networkrail.com), said: “This is fantastic news, at a time when we are seeing unprecedented levels of investment in the railway.

"We have put passengers and our freight customers first in developing our five-year plan, which will make the railway safer and more reliable for the thousands of customers who use it every day.

"This record funding, together with the significant investment planned by our partners Transport for Wales, represents a truly once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform rail services for the people of Wales and the Borders.”

Maintenance and renewal work to be carried out by Network Rail across the Wales and Borders rail network in the next five years includes: renewing or refurbishing 398km of track; bridge renewals; earthworks to improve the resilience of the railway in extreme weather; signalling renewals, such as the Port Talbot resignalling scheme; renewing the iconic Grade II listed Barmouth viaduct (pictured); and renewing the pumps at Sudbrook pumping station, which pumps water from the Severn Tunnel.