1. Beth yw blaenoriaethau Llywodraeth Cymru ar gyfer gwella cysylltiadau trafnidiaeth gyhoeddus i drigolion Cwm Cynon yn 2018? OAQ51518

Can I thank the Member for her question? I wish her, and, indeed, all Members, a very happy new year. And I can confirm that we are moving forward with our ambitious vision to reshape public transport infrastructure and services across Wales, including local bus services, rail services through the next Wales and borders contract, active travel and the south Wales metro project, which will act as a blueprint for other projects across the country.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. I'm sure you'll be aware that I've been spearheading a local campaign within Cynon Valley to improve Sunday services. And, following on from that campaign, Arriva did double the number of services from Aberdare during the month of December, and this was welcome news for many of my constituents, who were able to access employment opportunities much further afield as a result of that. Now, this was simply a pilot during the month of December, and I am concerned that, with this service possibly being removed thereafter, my constituents will be at a disadvantage, with the first train not leaving Aberdare until almost 10 a.m.. So, will you support my call for Arriva to be flexible in looking to continue these services so that people from Cynon Valley will have a greater chance of accessing employment opportunities further afield?

Yes, indeed, I will. I welcomed the decision by Arriva to extend services on Sundays. A lack of appropriate, reliable and affordable transport still remains as one of the biggest barriers that people face in trying to access work and stay in work. So, I was very pleased that Arriva Trains Wales decided to put on these additional services, and I would hope that the pilot scheme was a great success and might lead to a longer term provision of additional services. But what I can say for the long term, and I hope it gives the Member some assurance, is that Transport for Wales are now assessing the three bids that have been submitted for the next Wales and borders franchise. And our minimum, absolute minimum, requirement is that services will be equivalent with those currently provided. However, we are incentivising bidders to enhance services across the network, including, crucially I believe, on Sundays, given that many people do now work on the weekends, and particularly on Sundays.

I think this question of access is absolutely key, and it means reliable and regular links—railway, buses—are vital. But, you know, traditionally it's been a real problem, and it's not just access to jobs but to cultural assets in Cardiff, and enjoying those. You know, it's as much the right of people in the northern valleys to do that as those of us who live in or around Cardiff, and we really must ensure that, in the franchise that we let, these things are reflected—these requirements.

Well, indeed. Maslow's hierarchy of needs states that we need to feel connected to one another, and it's not just during weekdays that we should be connected to one another with public transport. Actually, the pilot scheme that we've been running using TrawsCymru's free means of transport on weekends has proven to be incredibly successful. We're still monitoring the performance of that particular free service, but what it has demonstrated is that people are now shifting their modes, from private car to public transport, and that could potentially carry through to using buses during the week as well. But, certainly at weekends, I think it's essential that bus operators, that we as a Government, that local authorities and that the operator and development partner of the next franchise work together to improve provision of public transport on weekends.

Cabinet Secretary, you'll be aware that many Cynon Valley residents travel to and work in the Pontypridd and the Taff Ely area. O course, one of the areas as part of the metro that I've raised on a number of occasions is the new railway link in respect of Creigiau to Llantrisant—a very vital development as part of that infrastructure. I wonder whether you have any indication yet as to the sort of timeline as to where that development may fit within the metro development?

Well, can I thank Mick Antoniw for his question? Proposals to include that particular service in the metro is something that will be assessed further as part of the future extendibility of the network under future metro phases. But development of projects to be taken forward under future metro phases cannot be taken further until we've evaluated our operator and development partners' delivery solution for metro phase 2 and awarded the contract, which will take place in the coming months. I can assure the Member that I will provide further updates as and when I can.