A significant rail testing facility planned for Powys, Wales, has already cost taxpayers £70 million but remains unbuilt, with its operational start date pushed back from 2025 to 2030. The Great British Rail Centre (GCRE) project, envisioned to feature two 4.3-mile electrified test tracks looping around a site comparable in size to Gibraltar, has struggled to secure private-sector funding due to perceived high risk.
Simon Jones, chief executive of GCRE, stated that while there is industry demand for the facility's services, continued reliance on public funds is unsustainable and a decision regarding the project's future is imminent. "We can't carry on using public money on this forever so a decision needs to be made," Jones told BBC Politics Wales.
Jones indicated that detailed discussions are underway with an unnamed energy and data centre company. He expressed the need to finalize these talks within the current year to enable the signing of a contract. "And we need to be in a position where we know whether the railway is going ahead or not at the moment we sign that contract," he added.
If the government commits to the project and a contract is executed with the data centre partner, trains could potentially be running on the site within five years. The GCRE project was inherited by Plaid Cymru following their victory in the May Senedd election. Beyond the testing tracks, the facility was also projected to create over 1,000 jobs.