3. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:57 pm on 21 May 2019.

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Photo of Andrew RT Davies Andrew RT Davies Conservative 2:57, 21 May 2019

Organiser, could we have a statement from the transport Minister, please, in relation to the train network and the new roll-out of the service that Transport for Wales are undertaking across Wales? I appreciate that it was only in October that the franchise was taken over, but, in evidence to the transport and the economy committee, James Price, the chief executive of Transport for Wales, said that there were going to be many changes this May that passengers would start to enjoy. We know, this year, for example, that there are going to be 160 new carriages coming on the network, yet 89 are going to be taken off, and anyone who looks at social media this morning can see the crammed carriages that are still in existence on the network. I appreciate Transport for Wales are doing their best within difficult circumstances, but an understanding of a timeline of when these new introductions will come, especially in the next 12 months, would be most appreciated, certainly by this Member and I'm sure by other Members, so that we can correspond with our constituents. Just blindly saying that 2022 is the eureka moment, because that seems to be when a lot of new rolling stock will be arriving, really isn't going to buy a lot of credit with the travelling public at the moment. So, if we could have an update on the proposals that were brought before the transport and economy committee and where we are at with those proposals, I think that would be most welcome.