Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 1:31 pm on 10 January 2018.
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.