Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 2:20 pm on 22 January 2020.
Well, can I thank the Member for her question? The Member is absolutely right—the performance of the local economy in Islwyn is something to be celebrated. A Member earlier mentioned weekly earnings as a concern in Wales. Well, I'm pleased to say that, as a result of our hard work, average gross full-time weekly earnings in Islwyn stand at around about £598. That's significantly above the average for Wales and also the UK average. It's something that the Member, I'm sure, is very pleased about. But the Member makes an important point that in order to drive sustained economic growth that applies fairly to all communities we have to invest in connective infrastructure, and that why we're investing £738 million to upgrade the railway lines to Aberdare, Coryton, Merthyr Tydfil, Treherbert and, of course, Rhymney. We're investing £800 million in new rolling stock by 2023, and we're electrifying something in the order of 170 km of track. We're upgrading all of our stations and signalling, and building at least five new stations for the metro.