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"It's good news for Wales," trilled the Secretary of State. "You should be pleased". Cheryl Gillan stopped short of urging us all to "rejoice! rejoice!" over the electrification of the railway from London to Cardiff but you could understand her happiness.

Since her appointment 10 months ago she has had to endure a series of "bad news for Wales" days as various projects, from defence training at St Athan to the passport office at Newport via the Severn barrage have been downgraded or shelved.

So it would be churlish to deny that the decision to go ahead with electrification has won plaudits from most quarters, despite understandable protests from those west of Cardiff at the failure to electrify to Swansea. ("A kick in the teeth for Swansea", said her Labour shadow Peter Hain, borrowing the Plaid Cymru thesaurus.)

Electrification will mean returning to those enjoyed in the 1970s. (At least the sandwiches are better these days, even if First Great Western now insist that customers are not allowed to carry hot drinks from the buffet car except inside a paper bag).

Journey times are only one argument for electrification, which is also seen as greener, smoother and more reliable than diesel.

A business case based on journey times alone may not have convinced a sceptical department for transport. Last December, Cheryl Gillan the initial decision to electrify as far as Didcot as one that would reduce journey times to Cardiff by 15 minutes.

Yesterday's announcement, she said, would mean journey times to Cardiff are cut by a total of 17 minutes - a net gain of two minutes on what we were promised three months ago. Leaves on the line permitting, of course.

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