6. How is the Welsh Government aiming to improve transport infrastructure in North Wales? OAQ53164

I'm pleased to be able to refer to my statement of 21 November 2018 on transport infrastructure in north Wales.

Thank you. Well, a few days later, on 27 November, I called for a Welsh Government statement on rail services in north Wales after a weekend of delayed and cancelled rail services in north Wales, where I've been reliably informed by rail insiders that a shortage of tooling spares and access to wheel lathes being in place and ensured they were put in place by the incoming operator had caused that, although there was now access to wheel lathes in Crewe, Bristol and Taunton. How do you, therefore, respond, given the subsequent apology and assurances from Transport for Wales to the e-mail I received at the end of December—five weeks, almost, later—that there'd been no trains on that particular day on the line from Shotton to Wrexham, that there'd be none tomorrow, the Monday would revert to a train every two hours, like it had been for several weeks? They were told there were no trains on Thursday either, that they're peddling storm Callum as part of the excuse, but that was six weeks ago. And how is it that other train operators are not affected by all the wheelset damage that's occurred in Wales? Given the original assurances we had from yourself and Transport for Wales, why was that still happening five weeks later? 

Well, largely because for far too many years we've seen in Wales a complete lack of investment by the UK Government in our rail infrastructure, particularly on our train lines, which remain a responsibility for Network Rail, and, therefore, the Department for Transport, and as I've said on many occasions now, this major problem can be largely attributed to the lack of wheel-slide protection. Why? Well, because the contract that Arriva Trains Wales was awarded was, simply, not fit for purpose. It did not incentivise them to invest in such technology, nor did it compel them when Welsh Government wished for such protection and technology to be installed on trains. 

I was pleased that the first service to return to full and normal operation was one of the north Wales services, and the Member points to an industry insider who gave him intelligence on the lack of wheel lathes in Wales. Well, it's true that when you have huge demand for wheel lathes, if you can't meet that demand with what you've got in your own country, you go elsewhere. Llywydd, I'm pleased to say that we did just that, and we were able to identify additional wheel lathes outside of Wales, and that's why we got so many trains back into full use so quickly. 

I’m sure we can all welcome the fact that there’s going to be investment in stations in the context of the Welsh railways. I don’t know if the Minister is aware, but Network Rail has been working closely with organisations trying to prevent suicides. There were 237 suicides on the British railways in 2016—4.5 per cent of all suicides within Britain. Now, research shows that people who are considering suicide in a train station follow a similar behavioural pattern, and one can use lights, benches facing away from the tracks, additional barriers, specific lines on the platform—it’s possible to use these methods in order to try and tackle these tendencies towards suicides in train stations. So, as we look to invest in these improvements in our stations, can you give us an assurance that you will work closely with that method of preventing suicide in order to ensure that investment gets the best possible outcomes?

Llywydd, I think this is an excellent question. I think it's a really important point. What I'm going to do is ask Transport for Wales, as it analyses and assesses how to spend the £200 million on all stations across the Wales and borders network, to put together at speed a suicide prevention plan, together with Network Rail, so that we can take on the sort of ideas that the Member has suggested and introduce them to as many stations as possible. 

Thank you to the Minister.