Rail nationalisation in Wales

Following the purchase of Cardiff Airport (which we taxpayers could have retained for next to nothing on council reorganisation in 1995), the Welsh government has been offered the Valley Lines real estate by Network Rail. The sale is expected to be completed by late September.

Two questions come to mind:

• is the Welsh government expected to take on any part of the Network Rail pension scheme?
• could this lead to a takeover of other internal routes, such as those in mid- and north Wales?

It could be argued that our government could hardly do a worse job of management than Network Rail whose poor cost control was a contributory factor to the GWR electrification being truncated. However, the future management structure and choice of head will have to be carefully chosen to guarantee that it will work for the public good.