Uncertainty over the date when electrified trains will start running to Swansea is affecting potential investment, it has been claimed.

Uncertainty over the date when electrified trains will start running to Swansea is affecting potential investment, it has been claimed.  Network Rail said electrification would arrive between 2019 and 2024, but the exact date was “to be confirmed”.  The line is being electrified to speed up journey times from London to Wales.
 
Electrified trains were originally due to arrive in Cardiff by 2017 but that deadline has now been put back.  Network Rail’s programme manager Anthea Dolman-Gair said that it had now been “set a challenge” to complete electrification to Cardiff by 2019 and Swansea by 2024.   “We’re on track to do that,” she said.  Costs for work between London and Cardiff have increased from an initial £1.6bn to an estimated £2.8bn.