THE WELSH capital could soon be commutable from Wrexham in less than two hours under ambitious plans unveiled this week.

A £60m investment to electrify the Wrexham-Bidston line, a new station for Wrexham workers to get to the Airbus site in Broughton, a high-speed train to Cardiff and a direct link to Liverpool are all being looked at by transport chiefs.

On Tuesday, the Rail Infrastructure and Improved Passenger Service Committee, chaired by Wrexham AM Dr John Marek, published a report of rail priorities it wants the Assembly to act on to improve Welsh railways.

Among the main findings, the committee suggests a new link from the Wrexham-Bidston line onto the Chester-Holyhead route.

Meanwhile, a high-speed train going from Wrexham to Cardiff in the morning and returning in the evening would cut the journey time to just two hours, while a new station at Broughton would enable Airbus workers to leave their cars at home.

It also suggests a direct link with the Liverpool Loop line to make travel to the city from Wrexham quicker and easier.

'There are South Wales projects too but I do not believe they will get sole priority if these schemes are adopted by the Assembly,' said Dr Marek.

'If we are to expect people to use the trains more then we have to have better systems in place.

'People will not use the trains in the state they are in on the back of a promise.

'These multi-million pound ideas will not be paid for by the Welsh Assembly, although there may be contributions, but they will be funded by private companies and special Government funds.

'There is money to carry out this work, all it requires is ambition.'

He added: 'From the evidence we have received there is a great demand for all our recommendations.

'Other schemes to improve travel to Cardiff have sometimes failed but there is a growing demand for the services we already have and many businesses that made representations to us said the only reason they do not take their business to Cardiff is the accessibility issues.

'We want to change that with a high-speed link. These ideas could revolutionise travel in Wrexham.'