A TREASURY decision to classify an England-only rail project as encompassing infrastructure spending in Wales provoked outrage today.

The Treasury confirmed to Lib Dem spokesman for Wales, David Chadwick MP, that the country will not receive Barnett consequential money from the £6.6 billion East-West Rail project linking Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge.

Plaid Cymru’s Ann Davies said: “Claiming that a line between Oxford and Cambridge somehow benefits Wales is yet another insult to Wales under Labour.

“However, let us be clear: this neglect isn’t accidental. It’s a deliberate policy choice that continues to deprive Wales of its fair share of infrastructure funding.  

“This pattern of misclassification and Labour’s inaction to rectify these wrongs is a systemic issue that neglects Wales’s needs, showing just how little they care about the communities of Wales.”

Rail union TSSA has called on the UK government to urgently reconsider its classification.

TSSA general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said: “Ministers in Westminster must be honest with the people of Wales and we’re calling for a rethink.

“Wales must receive its fair share of transport investment, with decisions made transparently and in the spirit of devolution.”

It follows the Conservative Party’s controversial handling of HS2 funding, where the £100bn high-speed rail project was classified as an “England and Wales” project, resulting in no consequential funding for Wales.

Despite campaigning in opposition for Wales to be given the HS2 money estimated at £4bn, since taking office, Labour has declined to grant the funding to the Welsh government.

Northern Powerhouse Rail, which will connect cities in the north of England, has also previously been classified as an England and Wales project, depriving Wales of up to £1bn in additional funding.

Independent experts, including the Senedd’s finance committee and academics at Cardiff University, have criticised the classifications, estimating that Wales lost out on more than £4bn as a result of HS2 alone.

Mr Chadwick, MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, said: “Wales is being denied hundreds of millions in funding that could transform our own rail network, all because Labour insists on cooking the books.

“Not a single centimetre of track will be laid in Wales. Yet Labour expects people across Wales to believe the ridiculous idea that this project will benefit them.”

The Welsh government and the Department for Transport were asked to comment.