4. Will the First Minister make a statement on the rail network in Mid and West Wales? (OAQ51114)

Devolution of funding for rail infrastructure remains with the UK Government. They have refused to devolve that. Despite this position, since 2011, the Welsh Government has invested around £200 million into a programme of rail infrastructure improvements, including additional and enhanced rail services in the mid and west.

I thank the First Minister for that response. We welcome the Welsh Government’s funding for a feasibility study to reopen the Aberystwyth to Carmarthen railway line. I’m sure he’ll agree with me that the best way to revive railway lines that were closed largely in the 1960s under the Beeching plan would be to produce low-cost opportunities for the trains and carriages that would work on the track. Because it’s the operating costs that are going to be the big stumbling block. There’s been an estimate of a £700 million total cost to reopen this particular line. But there have been some very encouraging studies done of no-frills trains being manufactured using lightweight materials and running at low speeds, which may be introduced in the next two years as the result of a £4 million trial. So, will the First Minister do everything he can to encourage the introduction of this new technology that will offer the opportunity to open up perhaps many more lines in rural Wales that were closed years ago?

No. What he’s talking about is light rail. It’s a model that’s used for suburban railways and for short journeys. I don’t think a 50-mile journey between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth is best served by a light rail carriage with hard seating, for example, without the kind of facilities you’d expect from a longer distance train. And, of course, with light rail, you end up in a situation where, it’s true, it’s cheaper, because the signal requirements are not the same, for example, but the comfort levels are way, way lower and I don’t think people in the west of our country should have a train service that is far less comfortable than would be expected along an equivalent route in England. If we’re going to move forward—. It’s a significant challenge—I don’t think we can underestimate it—a significant challenge and a significant cost to reinstate the Aberystwyth to Carmarthen line, but if it’s going to be done, it’s got to be done properly.

First Minister, I was pleased that the Cabinet Secretary confirmed that Carno station will be included in the current stage 2 assessment process for new stations in Wales. A petition will also be submitted to the Assembly tomorrow from the Carno station action group, 10 years after the first petition, urging the Government to reopen Carno station within a five-year timescale. Now that the Cabinet Secretary has announced that Carno will be considered, will you outline what the next steps are during this process, and do you feel that five years is a realistic timetable for the reopening of Carno station?

Just to inform the Member, the next stage is that, as he knows, the Cabinet Secretary has decided to include Carno in the current round of stage 2 assessments. What does that involve? It involves obtaining information from Network Rail on deliverability and operational considerations on the prioritised stations. In addition, a standard assessment model has been run to assess the anticipated demand at the proposed stations as well. I know that the Cabinet Secretary has asked officials to engage with the action group as part of the stage 2 process. So, that’s where we are now, but he will know, of course, what our intention is. There are many unknowns. When you deal with Network Rail, it’s not always clear what the challenges are. We’ve found that in the past, where problems have been identified that were not known at the time that an announcement was made. But it is our intention, he will know, to reopen Carno, pending, of course, the assessment.

As I understand it from what the First Minister and the Minister for the economy have said in the past, the current situation is that the franchise will commence without the full powers or the full budget having been devolved to the Welsh Government, and therefore the Welsh Government to all intents and purposes will be an agent for the Westminster Government. Now, if that is the case, can I ask you plainly in light of what happened in terms of electrification to Swansea, do you trust in the Westminster Government to transfer full powers in time and, importantly, to transfer the full funding additionally?

If they don’t do that, we won’t be able to move forward—it’s as plain as that. We have done everything that we need to do, and so now they must take action. But there is no indication at present that there will be a problem. We wish the franchise to progress as it should in April. We’re also talking to the unions to ensure that they understand what we’re trying to do. It would be much easier had they devolved the funding and the powers to us from the outset, particularly the power to instruct Network Rail. We don’t have that at the moment, so we have to consider new ways of doing things. But what is important is that we can act on behalf of the people of Wales in a way that wasn’t possible previously.

First Minister, there was an awful lot to welcome in the transport Minister’s latest statement on the next franchise, and what was particularly welcome was the commitment to keep a guard on every single service, something that people have campaigned quite heavily to see, and they welcome it. The other commitment was that the new rolling stock should be maintained by workers, ideally, here in Wales. Very recently, I had a tour around the investment that’s been made in the Machynlleth depot, and met some of the 33 highly skilled employees that reside there and work there. So, going forward, First Minister, can I ask that we will do all that we can to ensure a positive future for that that we’ve already invested in, in both Machynlleth station and the people who work there?

Absolutely. If I remember rightly, Machynlleth had a depot in the 1980s, then it closed, then it reopened, because it was needed, clearly, to service trains on the centre of Wales and Cambrian Coast lines. So, yes, we want to make sure that not only do we keep our network of depots, but we increase the number in the future, because we know that there will be new rolling stock, there will be new modes of transport that we will look at, and it’s important, then, that the equipment is maintained in Wales as far as is possible.