Can I thank Russell George for his questions, and also for the support he has demonstrated for our ambitions for the metro systems across Wales?

Can I just deal with the very first point that Russell George made concerning investment in rail infrastructure in Wales in control period 6? All of that investment during control period 6 will be for maintenance of the rail network—maintenance. No money is being allocated towards rail enhancements. That means that, essentially, because of underinvestment over the past decade, we are seeing the UK Government finally waking up to the fact that deferred maintenance costs an incredible sum of money. And it's as a result of that deferred maintenance, that irresponsible approach to maintaining the rail network along the Wales route, that the UK Government has now had to dig deep in order to pull forward the investment for maintenance. We wish to see a similarly generous offer for rail enhancements.

I do welcome any consequential that would come from the Prime Minister's announcement concerning bus services and active travel—the £5 billion fund. That could equate to something in the order of £50 million per year over five years, and would certainly allow us to increase the bus services support grant, so I do welcome a consequential from that particular fund. But, if we are to deliver the game-changing ambitious plans for our metros, we require further investment from UK Government. For example, I've talked about a four-trains-per-hour service from Wrexham through to Liverpool. That will require, as Members may be aware from the letter that I have sent with the metro mayor of Liverpool, Steve Rotherham, approximately £150 million of investment from UK Government. That is a tiny, tiny sum of money when you consider that, over the past five years, we've seen around £1 billion of underinvestment—money taken away from Wales, money that should have been spent on the Wales route.

Now, HS2 does indeed have the potential to transform many communities that it will serve. But if Wales is to benefit from HS2, then certain conditions must be met. We must have the right outcome at Crewe, the right hub must be developed and delivered at Crewe. We must also see electrification of the north Wales main line, and electrification of the Crewe to Chester line. That would then enable future high-speed trains to travel through to Holyhead. That is absolutely vital. The estimated cost for those works is around about £1 million, which, again, compared to the £1.6 billion estimate for HS2 is not a huge amount of investment, and then I would agree that HS2 could deliver significant benefits to north Wales.

In terms of delivering further benefits to south Wales, because there could be a net adverse impact on the economy of south Wales, we wish to see those business cases that were promised by UK Government taken forward to the next stage. Those business cases, when the electrification of the south Wales main line was cancelled, included the promise to look at improving speed on the south Wales main line. That must happen. We must see improvements to the south Wales main line as a matter of urgency.

I take the point that the Member made concerning strategic direction, and it has been different in each of the metro areas where, for example, in the Swansea bay area, we've been working very much alongside the four local authorities. In north Wales, it's very much been focused on a collaboration between Welsh Government and Flintshire council, because the commencement of the metro concept is in Deeside. However, TfW have been remitted for the forthcoming year to take strategic direction into their responsibilities and to ensure that programmes across all three metro areas are accelerated as much as possible. But, again, Russell George asked about TfW's ability to be able to cost the work. Well, TfW will be relying on UK Government funding to take forward the programmes.

The CVL transfer asset has now been triggered, and it will be completed by the end of March. There was a delay due to negotiations, but I am pleased that it has now been triggered, and I look forward to taking control of that major piece of infrastructure so that we can invest £0.75 billion in the transformational south-east Wales metro.