Part of 2. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:42 pm on 14 November 2017.
A few weeks ago, it became apparent that new trains of the Great Western Railway service, which serve south Wales, won't include any bilingual signage or announcements. As expected, there were a number of complaints made to the company by passengers, following this news, condemning the decision taken, including by the former Welsh language Minister, Alun Davies. Now, the company's excuse was that these trains serve areas of England as well as Wales, and therefore using bilingual signage and making bilingual announcements wouldn't be appropriate. Interestingly, some passengers in England have expressed support to having Welsh services in England, talking about their experiences of travelling from one country to another in Europe and hearing the language change regularly. Ensuring bilingual signage and announcements on trains is a matter of fundamental respect for the Welsh language. So, can you commit to ensuring that language standards will be introduced by the Government in the transport sector—standards that have been on the Government's desk for almost a year, unfortunately—and therefore that companies such as GWR would be able to provide services and the respect that Welsh speakers deserve?