4. Statement by the Minister for Economy and Transport: A Railway for Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:11 pm on 24 September 2019.

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Photo of Russell George Russell George Conservative 4:11, 24 September 2019

Thank you, acting Presiding Officer. Can I thank the Minister for his statement on the vision of rail in Wales? I support the Minister's view with regard to the devolution of rail infrastructure—I think it's important to say that. There was a lot of talk, Minister, in your statement about innovative, bespoke solutions to deliver an integrated transport network, transforming the railways across Wales and delivering the high-quality railway that the people of Wales deserve. I can agree with all that—they're all admirable, very high-level aspirations—but I can't help thinking, if rail users are listening to this statement today, they will be thinking to themselves, 'What about now? What about the current state of the rail service?' I think they'll be pleased to hear the aspirations, but they'll still be asking that question.

In your statement, you refer to the appointment of 22 Transport for Wales ambassadors to encourage people to use public transport, but people don't and they won't choose to use the railway network now because the rail network is so unreliable. I don't say that off-the-cuff—I can give plenty of evidence for that through the postbag over the summer period. And I would make the point as well that the Government, of course, does already have a lot of levers at its disposal with regard to passenger experience, which has been consistently below par in recent times—we've seen cancelled trains, delayed trains, lack of staff, overcrowding, signaling problems, short-form trains, and a lack of quality information when issues do occur. Between October and July, we saw that only 73 per cent of services arrived on the Cambrian line on time. So, I'm trying not to be negative to what are good, positive aspirations from you, which I agree with you—.

You say in your statement that Transport for Wales has the structure, expertise and processes in place to take new responsibilities and powers, but I genuinely do struggle with that statement, because I do see there's little evidence of that so far to date. So, I would like to ask you, perhaps, Minister, whether you feel that any additional resources are required for Transport for Wales to deliver their job effectively now, and certainly into the future, taking on the extra responsibilities that you've outlined.