6. Will the First Minister make a statement on the performance of services provided by Transport for Wales? OAQ54313

Llywydd, Transport for Wales will deliver the Wales and borders rail franchise through a £5 billion investment in Welsh railways over the next 15 years.

Thank you for your answer, First Minister. The level of service on the rail network in Wales has been wholly unacceptable over the summer. I have received dozens and dozens of complaints, either with people copying me into their own correspondence to Transport for Wales, or constituents contacting me directly—not to mention the issues aired over social media. Complaints fall into a number of categories that include cancelled trains, lack of staff, delayed trains, overcrowding and standing room only, signalling problems, a lack of appropriate carriages and a lack of quality information when issues do occur. When Transport for Wales took over the franchise last year, they raised expectations and the Welsh Government also told rail users they would see improvements. Can you tell rail users today when they can expect to see the improvements that you promised last year?

Llywydd, I saw information put out by the Member over the summer in which he complained that only 97 per cent of trains on the Cambrian line had run over the summer. I think there are people in Thameslink who would think they'd arrived in rail heaven if his Government was able to deliver 97 per cent of all planned services on that line. The Member will have seen yesterday the announcement made of £194 million-worth of investment in railway stations across Wales, and that will certainly attend to the point that the Member made, which was a fair point, about—

Why didn't you say it?

The Member will need to listen rather than speak and then he would have a chance of hearing the answer to his question, wouldn't he? The £194 million investment announced yesterday will certainly attend to the fair point the Member made—that's what I was about to say when he started interrupting me—about information being provided to passengers. The Member said when he was interrupting me that Transport for Wales has said that the performance on some lines, including the Cambrian line, has not been acceptable over this summer, and they're working hard with Network Rail to make sure that signalling difficulties that were experienced on that line are being put right. Of course we want to see further improvements. The £5 billion investment that I referred to earlier will certainly deliver that. People, I believe, are already seeing improvements in many parts of the rail service in Wales and that's what they will continue to see as the franchise unfolds.