WALES transport Minister Andrew Davies is hopeful there will be no further delays to a multi-million- pound project to introduce a rail link to the Valleys.

The minister was speaking yesterday as work officially began on the £27.7 million project to provide passenger services from Ebbw Vale to Newport and Cardiff - regarded as a central pillar in the regeneration of an area devastated by the closure of the Corus steelworks in 2002.

Mr Davies, however, stuck to his guns when asked if there was any possibility of the link from Ebbw Vale to Newport opening at the same time or before the service to Cardiff, which is what the Argus' Get Back on Track campaign has called for.

An hourly service between Cardiff and Ebbw Vale is due to be introduced in 2006, and then to Newport sometime in 2009. When the plans were first devised in 2002 the aim was to open the Cardiff link this year and introduce the Newport service two years later.

Several issues have been blamed for the delay in opening the Newport link - signalling problems, and lack of capacity at Newport railway station.

Mr Davies said: "It is extremely important to provide good transport links for the people of Blaenau Gwent and Ebbw Vale. It shows our commitment to this area because I believe this is the first time since the Beeching cuts of the 1960s that passenger services have been introduced.

"Good transport links such as this are vital for the community in Ebbw Vale, and we are putting our money where our mouth is."

When asked about guaranteeing there would be no further delays to the project, Mr Davies said: "The biggest problem was when Railtrack went into administration, but the important thing is that we are now able to deliver on this project.

"The people of Blaenau Gwent want a rail service and that is what we are providing, and it is good to see that work has started."

He added: "We are still committed to delivering in Newport but there are infrastructure issues, which mean that trains will have to go to Cardiff first. It isn't going to be possible for trains to go to Newport at the same time as Cardiff."

The old signal box between Cardiff and Newport needs upgrading by Network Rail to allow the service to run between Ebbw Vale and Newport.

Advance clearance works have already been completed at a cost of £600,000 and tenders will be invited next month, with contracts awarded in the summer, for the construction of six new stations and associated highway infrastructure work.