8. Plaid Cymru Debate: Rolling Stock Strategy

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:38 pm on 20 November 2019.

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Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 5:38, 20 November 2019

We're increasing capacity on each of those lines in line with our vision for metro services, so there will be more seats available to commuters at key times, there will be more services, there'll be four trains per hour on metro lines. This is a huge undertaking, an incredibly ambitious exercise, and within months of the start of the new franchise we were also able to give the gift of new services in the north with the reopening of the Halton Curve. From this December, we're going to be introducing a huge increase in Sunday services across Wales, and we're also investing a £194 million in station improvement across the Wales and borders network. I'm pleased that at least five new stations will be created, and one of those, Bow Street, is, as of this week, under construction.

Finally, on safety, we reached agreement with rail unions to ensure that we kept a guard on each train. So, we can choose—we can choose to be backward-looking or we can choose to look to the future. We can look to a brighter future when more services of higher quality are being delivered for the people of Wales.