Part of 3. 2. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:27 pm on 23 May 2017.
It is a strange irony, is it not, that Arriva trains receives one of the highest subsidies of any public train provider, and yet has just declared record profits. I’m sure that you, like me, would like to see a Government with a more rational approach to the way we run our railways after 8 June. But, for now, we have a UK Government that is, unfortunately, committed to insisting that the £125 million that has been set aside to improve our rail services must be spent on electrifying the Valleys lines, when all the experts are clear that light rail is both more cost-effective and will improve the journey times in a way that electrification will not. What do you think your Government can do to ensure that there is a much more rational approach to the way we invest public money, to ensure that we get the gains that are needed in the metro system that we hope to deliver across south-east Wales?