3. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:09 pm on 5 March 2019.

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Photo of Nick Ramsay Nick Ramsay Conservative 3:09, 5 March 2019

Trefnydd, yesterday I, Jenny Rathbone and, indeed, the day before,  Mohammad Asghar were part of the Public Accounts Committee trip to Wrexham in north Wales—a very useful meeting. And it was made possible by a very pleasant train journey there and back, courtesy of Transport for Wales. That journey went very well, but, as I'm sure many AMs are aware, that experience is not universal, and I've received a number of concerned e-mails from constituents who've had problems with that train service, one in particular from a constituent whose daughter travels to Hereford Sixth Form College on a regular basis to study. Her exams are coming up and she's concerned that a large proportion of services are either cancelled at short notice or are delayed by varying amounts and she can't plan her studies effectively. Now, I remember the Minister for transport telling us, I think a few weeks ago, that partly these issues are due to poor maintenance from the previous franchise and that we should bear that in mind, and I think that there is an argument there. However, that's not really relevant to my constituents or people using these train services at the moment. So, what assurance can we give to my constituents and other passengers on Transport for Wales that, whatever the reason for these current delays and problems with the service, these are being dealt with by the Welsh Government and normal service can resume as quickly as possible?