Can I thank the Member for his questions and for welcoming the announcement that took place yesterday, and the details of the new Wales and borders franchise? We made sure through the scoring process of the procurement exercise that everybody in all parts of Wales and, indeed, the borders area, benefited from the new franchise arrangements. The scoring system was such that it ensured that the bidders were keen to demonstrate how they were going to bring transformative change to all parts of the Wales and borders area.   

I think the Member is right to highlight the importance of a number of very significant issues that have been highlighted in recent times, including accessibility and toilets. I can confirm that every toilet on all of the trains will be PRM compliant by the time that they need to be. It's absolutely essential that lower emission PRM toilets are incorporated on all of the trains that will be operating and the ODP has given a very, very clear guarantee that that will happen. The First Minister earlier stated that £15 million will be made available for accessibility at stations across Wales for people who are of limited mobility. There are a number of stations that I know of personally, including my own station of Ruabon, that do not have step-free access, or additional access to step-only access. That will be resolved in the coming franchise arrangements. Every station within the metro area will also be step-free accessible. And in terms of toilets, there will be additional toilets on stations within the metro network to ensure that, for the solution within the core Valleys lines network, no passenger will have to wait more than 14 minutes in order to gain access to a universal access toilet.

The Member raises other important points regarding procurement opportunities for SMEs. We're in the process at the moment of engaging as many Welsh-based companies and borderland companies as possible in the process of identifying infrastructure development partner opportunities to ensure that we capture maximum opportunity for Welsh-based companies. In addition, Transport for Wales, of course, has been set up as a not-for profit-organisation. In the future, it's our anticipation that Transport for Wales will be able to let additional services on a not-for-profit basis to more Welsh companies, and it's also our expectation in the future that Transport for Wales will be able to take on additional responsibilities for other forms of transport management and infrastructure delivery—again being able, in doing so, to award more contracts for Welsh SMEs.

In terms of the work that the operation and development partner will be undertaking with Network Rail, there will be collaborative work taking place with Network Rail, but it will also be on the basis of work being undertaken on a collaborative basis with Transport for Wales as well. I'm pleased that Wales will be represented on the Network Rail national board by a member from Wales itself, ensuring that Wales has a voice on the Network Rail board. I think everybody would acknowledge in the Chamber that, in recent times, the Welsh rail network has not received the sort of infrastructure funding that it should rightly expect. I hope that in the next round, the next control period, that will be addressed, and certainly having Welsh representation on the board at Network Rail will be of assistance.

In terms of the roll-out of new technology, KeolisAmey have designed the roll-out of improved Wi-Fi, the installation of new masts, in line with our Superfast Cymru and mobile interventions to ensure that they don't duplicate them, but instead that we have seamless pathways from train to station to train in terms of Wi-Fi. I'm confident that given the investment that KeolisAmey are looking at placing within new and emerging technologies we will be able to see every train providing free access to Wi-Fi in the coming years. This will be a transformational franchise arrangement, and I'm keen to ensure that we maximise opportunities, not just for the businesses of today but also for new businesses who will be able to look at opportunities where there are new stations.

Now, one of the key benefits for many rural communities of this franchise agreement is the promise that has been made to invest in station buildings and in the landscaping of stations and in bringing stations back into use where they are currently not in use, and that could provide huge opportunities, particularly in rural communities, for new business start-ups at stations. I think many of us could point to a huge number of stations within the 247 station slab that exists on the Wales and borders network where there are opportunities to open up space to new businesses, whether it be in retail, whether it be in hospitality, whether it be in business design or creative industries. There are huge opportunities, and I'm particularly pleased to see a strong focus by the operator and development partner on that potential business area.