Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:34 pm on 5 June 2018.
No. First of all, it's probably right to say that our first preference would have been to have had a not-for-profit public sector organisation or body able to bid for the franchise. That was expressly ruled out by the legislation in Westminster, something that I didn't welcome, neither now nor at the time. What we have, however, is a service that will be an excellent service. It will improve capacity across the whole of Wales, and everybody will see a positive difference to services. He suggests that the network has been privatised. Well, we've talked to the rail unions, to the RMT—personally, I've talked to them—to the TSSA, and also to ASLEF. They understand the way forward. We have made sure, for example, there'll be a guard on every train, to add to passenger security and safety. So, we work with the unions in order to deliver a rail network that will be, I believe, the envy of the rest of the UK in future years, especially given the chaos that we see existing in some parts of England at the moment.