Welsh government's claim of rail devolution talks with Westminster disputed
BBCClaims that the Welsh government has begun negotiations with Westminster over devolving rail in the future have been disputed and described as "desperation".
The Welsh government said it was in discussions "for fairer funding and a pathway to full devolution".
A Labour UK government source close to the Westminster transport department said a press release saying talks "massively overegged" the situation and that negotiations were not happening.
The Welsh government said it had nothing to add.
Plaid Cymru promised to begin negotiations to find a "pathway" for the transfer of powers over rail, and a "fairer" share of UK rail funding, in the party's 100 days plan.
It is understood that Wales' Deputy Transport Minister Mark Hooper and UK Transport Minister Lord Hendy have had a face to face meeting - described by one source as an introduction.
Railway infrastructure in Wales is mostly controlled by the UK government in Westminster, with the exception of some local lines, including in the south Wales valleys. The Welsh government also runs Transport for Wales, which operates most of the country's train services.
In a press release on Tuesday the Welsh government said it had begun "negotiations with UK government for fairer funding and a pathway to full devolution".
In the Senedd on the same day, Hooper said the decisions affecting passengers in Wales "are too often made elsewhere, without the full alignment of Welsh priorities".
"For decades, the UK government has failed to invest in the Welsh rail network and has instead allowed it to decline.
"The network in Wales makes up around 10 per cent of the total British network by track length, yet, over the past 15 years, Wales has received only 1.5 per cent of the total investment in enhancements."
"We have a vision of a devolved rail network, where rail services are designed around the needs of our people, our communities and our economy," he said.
Hooper said he had been "really pleased with the positivity that came from my conversation with UK government", and said he had spoken "to the rail minister a few weeks ago".
He said that the minister had told him that to go to the Treasury to get funding needed for rail projects "what we needed is to be ready with the projects".
Disputing the press release claims of negotiations, the UK government source said: "I think this demonstrates a bit of desperation to say they are making tangible progress.
"But announcing negotiations that aren't happening via a press release is not really how a governing party should behave."
They said the press release was "massively overegged". BBC Wales was told the UK government not received any formal request for further devolution or outlined the case or rationale for doing so.
Asked for comment, a Welsh government spokesperson said they had nothing to add beyond Tuesday's press release.
