No firm plans have been made regarding a £10 million rail project linking North Wales to North West England, Parliamentary questions have revealed.
The project, to upgrade the Halton curve in Merseyside, was unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne earlier in the month.
However, Parliamentary questions put down by Wrexham MP Ian Lucas show that the proposals have not yet been drawn up by Network Rail, and that meetings about the upgrade were not held with Welsh Assembly Ministers until after the Chancellor had made the speech in which they were announced.
Mr Lucas has now warned that the major infrastructure project must be carefully considered by Ministers and not used for political purposes.
He said: “The Chancellor’s announcement about the Halton Curve, when it was made, gained a great deal of attention.
“However, it did not contain a great deal of detail. We now know that the plans are at a very early stage indeed, with more details not expected until next year and work not expected to be completed until at least 2017.
“Rail users from North Wales will rightly want to know what is going on at the earliest possible opportunity. They will also want assurances that the Government is not making announcements about major infrastructure works for purely political purposes.”
