A £30m Budget pledge for Cardiff Parkway station has prompted a dispute over the scale and pace of rail investment in Wales, with Welsh Transport Minister Mark Hooper calling it “an insult to the people of Wales”.

The Plaid Cymru-led Welsh government had sought £1bn upfront from the £14bn promised by the UK Labour government for long-term Welsh rail funding. UK ministers say the station allocation forms part of a £445m package announced at the last Spending Review, rather than a separate funding commitment.

The proposed four-platform station at St Mellons, in eastern Cardiff, would connect passengers on the South Wales Metro network with north Wales, Bristol, Manchester and London. The UK government has previously said it could serve 800,000 passengers a year and support around 6,000 jobs. Those are projections, not established outcomes.

Budget documents said the £30m would “progress delivery”; they did not describe it as funding the entire scheme.

UK finance minister Emma Reynolds said the £445m package addressed years of “chronic under-investment” under Conservative and Conservative–Liberal Democrat governments. She argued that clearing planning obstacles was necessary to release investment and said she was ready to work with the Welsh government and Transport for Wales.

Hooper disputed the suggestion that the stations were not ready for construction. Following talks with UK ministers and officials in Whitehall, he said money had been promised in February and that an agreement with Network Rail now allowed Transport for Wales to deliver the stations.

“Transport for Wales are ready to start work we just need the UK government to keep their promise,” he said.

He also argued that the funding dispute strengthened the case for devolving rail powers. The Welsh government says Wales accounts for 10% of Great Britain’s rail network but receives just 1% of Network Rail’s spending.

The UK government has already backed five new stations across Cardiff, Newport and Monmouthshire, alongside upgrades in north Wales. Wednesday’s Budget also confirmed £2.5m for a science park in Ynys Mon and £11m for a bridge in Port Talbot.

Cardiff Parkway’s private developers had hoped to open in 2024. Cardiff council approved the plans in April 2022, but a Welsh government review under Labour delayed the process before former First Minister Eluned Morgan granted planning permission in January 2025. The latest allocation leaves the wider dispute over funding and delivery unresolved.