The Wales and Borders Franchise

Part of 2. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:40 pm on 14 November 2017.

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Photo of Nick Ramsay Nick Ramsay Conservative 2:40, 14 November 2017

First Minister, you're quite right to say that the decision of Arriva to drop out of the bidding process and the franchise process does happen. We shouldn't get too worked up about a bidder deciding that it's not for them. At what point, however, did you know that they were dropping out? Was it sudden? Did they give advance warning? I'm wondering: did the Welsh Government receive any feedback from the company and the staff involved that would be beneficial now, moving forward with the rest of the process? Because, clearly, if other franchised businesses were to drop out as well, then we could end up in quite a tricky situation down the line, so to speak.