Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:10 pm on 18 July 2017.
Can I thank Dai Lloyd for his question? But I think the premise is slightly wrong. The reason that we’ve intervened to support the rail network in the current time is because of the historic underfunding by UK Government in the infrastructure of the rail network, and also because the franchise agreement that was reached more than a decade ago was so poorly drawn up. The new franchise is going to be designed to address those growing passenger numbers, which we expect to rise by more than 70 per cent, and then, consequently, we expect there to be more trains operating and we expect to see better quality trains deployed as soon as possible in the next franchise. We intervened out of a duty to passengers who should be put first by the next operator and by this operator, and we will continue to prioritise passenger interest above profit and ensure that the experience of travelling on Wales’s trains is improved.