Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 2:01 pm on 4 July 2018.
First of all, I'd say that the provision of four trains per hour is hugely, hugely beneficial to the community, and I'd also say that, whilst I know you've been a champion of establishing a depot there, the Taffs Well option was more deliverable. The alternative would have cost in the order of an additional £144 million. But we're keen to ensure that the metro is used to redevelop communities, particularly where transport hubs and where stations are going to be upgraded, and it's worth remembering that all of the stations are going to be upgraded as a consequence of the agreement we've reached with KeolisAmey. It's a startling fact that, in the last 15 years, approximately £600,000 has been spent on stations, whereas, in the next 15 years, we'll see something in the order of £194 million spent on stations. We've also had agreement that many of those stations will be utilised to support business development and business growth, particularly those stations where there is existing space and office availability, but where it's not fully utilised.
I can't give exact details in terms of the number of jobs that will be created as a consequence of the light maintenance that will be taking place, but I can give the Member assurance that we will look at exploiting every opportunity of the incredible sums of money that we are spending in the Valley to ensure that the Rhymney area gets as many new jobs attracted to the community as possible.