'Watch this space' - Stephen Crabb on completion date for rail electrification project
Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb has said there is "total commitment" to electrifying the main railway line between Swansea and London, despite fears of delays to the project.
He told Welsh MPs not to underestimate the expense, expected to top £1bn.
Mr Crabb said completion, previously expected by 2018, would depend on a review of its affordability by Network Rail chair Sir Peter Hendy.
But he said it was a "strategic project" needed by the Welsh economy.
In June, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said electrifying the Great Western line remained "a top priority" as he announced a "reset" of Network Rail's £38bn five-year plan to overhaul Britain's railways.
On the subject of devolving the Wales rail franchise by 2018, Mr Crabb told the Welsh affairs committee that "the ball now really is in the court of Welsh government on this".
Junior Wales Office Minister Alun Cairns was due to meet Transport Minister Edwina Hart next Monday to discuss the matter, he added.
"The Welsh government are wholly responsible for working up the scheme," Mr Crabb said.
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