The controversial high speed two (HS2) rail project would have a hugely damaging impact on the Welsh economy if approved.
It comes as聽 a former senior figure on a panel reviewing its progress said it risked wasting billions of pounds of public money.
According to the Department for Transport鈥檚 own figures it will damage the South Wales economy by 拢200m per year, by bringing cities in the North of England closer to London.
Labour peer Lord Tony Berkeley, who resigned as vice-chairman of the HS2 Review, has published his own report on the project, which would speed up rail links between London and a number of cities in the Midlands and northern England.
HS2 is controversial in Wales because it has been classified as an all-Britain project, which means it would not attract the normal 鈥淏arnett consequential鈥 cash allocation to Wales for rail infrastructure spending here.
In his report Lord Berkely describes HS2 as 鈥渢he wrong and expensive solution to 鈥榤aking it faster and easier to travel for work and leisure鈥.鈥
He states: 鈥淭here is strong evidence that the greatest need and demand for improved rail services is within the regions, in particular the Northern Power House (NPH) and Midlands Connect (MC) areas, since services to and from London are of better quality, and that HS2, apart from its northern end within the NPH area, does not help this much. Its stated aim of providing better north-south links is just as likely to attract more jobs from the regions to London than the other way round.
鈥淚f ministers are minded to help improve the rail network and services in the Midlands and North, this can be achieved by integrating the HS2 Phase 2B lines within the NPH area into the existing network, and improving the Network Rail lines in the NPH and MC areas by track quadrupling to what it was before the Beeching era cuts.
鈥淭he aim must be to give these areas the same standard of commuting services as there is in the South East whilst, at the same time, improving the existing lines from London northwards.
鈥淭his option would save around 拢50bn compared to the cost of HS2.鈥
Professor Mark Barry, of Cardiff University, a leading transport specialist and deviser of the South Wales Metro network, agreed with Lord Berkeley鈥檚 analysis.
In a blog post, he stated: 鈥淚n general I think the 海角视频 does need more rail capacity.
鈥淗owever, the focus on speed... may well blow the affordability envelope.
鈥180-200mph would have been fine; we know how to do that. Going 230 mph or more needs new engineering, operating kit and standards for OLE [overhead line equipment], ballast, tunnels, etc.
鈥淭he need to access city centres and a tunnel through the Chilterns is also a challenge.
鈥淐ollectively these requirements are adding billions of pounds to the costs.
鈥淎nd 鈥 let鈥檚 be clear 鈥 it does not benefit Wales at all... No transport user benefits are in the business case and using the Department for Transport鈥檚 own figures it will damage the south Wales economy by 拢200m per year.
鈥淩ail infrastructure is not devolved to Wales and investment enhancement decisions have been made on an England and Wales basis for decades resulting in approximately 1% of 海角视频 Government funding for rail enhancements in Wales. Yet Wales has 5% of the 海角视频 population and approximately 10% of the 海角视频 rail network.鈥
He concluded: 鈥淲ales has been very poorly served by Westminster and Whitehall for decades. We need to do far more and if the 海角视频 Government is serious about rebalancing the 海角视频 economy and driving further investment in infrastructure, then they need to engage with and support the Welsh Government and not just throw around 鈥榥orthern powerhouse鈥 rhetoric.鈥
Plaid Cymru Treasury spokesman Jonathan Edwards said: 鈥淚t is now clear that re-connecting towns and cities across the north of England would have more of an economic impact, for less money, when compared with HS2.
鈥淭his is clearly the logical way to invest in infrastructure in England and would finally get rid of the Westminster government鈥檚 only, already very weak, argument that HS2 is of benefit to Wales, and therefore we do not deserve any Barnett consequentials.
鈥淏y investing in the more economically beneficial option of rail across the north of England, the Westminster government would surely, finally have to give us our fair share of investment and stop claiming that investing in railways that don鈥檛 have one stop in Wales benefits our country directly.鈥
The 海角视频 government will consider the result of the review in due course.
