Part of 2. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:02 pm on 3 October 2017.
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?