Diolch, Llywydd. I'll begin by just stating again—and it's something that I've said before—that we made a very deliberate decision at the start of the franchise procurement not to tie the hands of bidders by preparing a rolling stock strategy, in line with the advice that we received from industry leaders and observers at the time, and which has been subsequently widely recognised as being the basis for our new approach to the railway. We wanted to allow bidders maximum flexibility to innovate.

Now, if, six years ago, we had chosen what types of trains we wanted to run across Wales, the scope for fresh thinking would've been severely hampered. For example, how would we have ensured that half of the new trains would be built in Wales, given that CAF—Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles—hadn't even begun looking at Wales at that time? Would we have developed a new, low-cost approach to overhead electrification? Would Members have accepted a strategy that relied upon battery, overhead and diesel hybrid trains? How would we have balanced the ambitions for a flexible metro with on-street running within a fixed budget envelope?

I was a Member of that committee and I feel that the recommendation of a rolling stock strategy at the time was foolish, because no strategy written in 2013 or thereafter would've dealt with the issues that I've already outlined, or taken full advantage of technology that is only becoming available in the second half of this decade. We deliberately wanted to harness the collective thinking of our four competitive bidders to develop the most appropriate solution—a solution that maximised the outcomes we set out at the start of the procurement exercise, but fixed within a funding envelope.

Now, whilst not wishing to dwell on the past, it's also important to set the record straight about what control and influence the Welsh Government held back in 2013 in respect of the previous rail franchise controlled by UK Government. In 2013 the landscape was incredibly different. Widespread electrification plans across the UK would've seen full electrification of many routes across the midlands, the north, then closer to home on the Great Western main line to Oxford, Bristol and Swansea. This would've released, as Rhun ap Iorwerth has described it, or cascaded a number of modern diesel trains, which could've strengthened the Wales and borders fleet, as well as provided contingency to release units for disabled persons modifications. But as David Rowlands and Hefin David have both said, the previous UK Government dramatically scaled back these plans, and, in addition, other projects such as Crossrail have been delayed. Consequently, any rolling stock strategy in 2013 would, by now, be completely irrelevant.

I think it's disingenuous of some Members to claim that no action was taken to try and reduce the risks of ageing rolling stock and requirements under the people with restricted mobility legislation. For the Wales and borders operation, the shortage of units was identified in 2017, and as a result, trains were ordered then from Porterbrook for introduction in May of 2018. But those trains have not been delivered as Porterbrook promised, and the programme is now almost two years late, hence the need for the mitigations, including the continued operation of some existing trains. Therefore, the only option available was to apply for dispensation to continue the operation of non-PRM train units until the modifications are completed and cascaded trains introduced. This is becoming, as Members have already identified, a familiar problem across the United Kingdom, where capacity issues are pressing because of a lack of diesel trains. It's wrong to say that we've taken too long to apply for dispensation, because it was absolutely right and proper that we exhausted every opportunity to be compliant, and that we pressed Porterbrook as far as we possibly could to deliver the trains as they had promised.

It's for the UK Government to now grant the dispensation, and I expect it to be made very shortly. But if Members expressing concerns today really wish to be constructive, then they should support our application for dispensation. We are not alone—as Members have already identified, Northern have sought dispensation, but we also understand three other train operators have applied for dispensation now.

Furthermore, Llywydd, all Members could help to deliver new stations and new infrastructure, as John Griffiths and David Rowlands highlighted with Magor station, by once again calling for our recommendations to the Williams review to be accepted, just as Huw Irranca-Davies alluded to.

So, whilst I'm not happy that we've had to go down the avenue of seeking dispensation, we've been forced to do it, because the alternative would have been far, far worse for the people of Wales. The removal of trains from service would have led to long-term, widespread cancellations across Wales, including the north Wales coast, north-east Wales commuter services, west Wales rural services and also south Wales commuter services. In short, it would not be possible to deliver a usable rail service in Wales.

Now, up until October 2018, PRM modification programmes were the responsibility of the previous franchise operator, which was not actually required to undertake modifications, and those programmes were under the control of the Department for Transport. Therefore, whilst other English train operators have had around five years to ensure PRM compliance, Transport for Wales has only had 14 months. I hope the Chamber will therefore recognise today the hard work of TfW over this incredibly short period to ensure that as many units as possible are PRM compliant on 1 January next year. Indeed, we estimate that around two thirds of the 134-train fleet will be PRM compliant at that time.

Now, had we done, as some Members are calling for—and given the apparent inability of the rolling stock industry to respond swiftly, I am convinced that any rolling stock strategy that we had developed would have fallen short for reasons outside of our control and would have undermined our innovative approach to procuring the franchise.

What is it that Welsh Government is actually doing? Well, we're investing £738 million in the south-east Wales metro, we're making £800 million of investment available to ensure that, from 2023, new rolling stock will be available on the Wales and borders route, with approximately half of these trains built here in Wales. We're also investing around £40 million in improving the customer service and resilience of our existing trains.