Road and Railway Closures in the Conwy Valley

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales – in the Senedd at 1:34 pm on 26 February 2020.

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Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 1:34, 26 February 2020

Can I thank Janet Finch-Saunders for her question, and say that, whilst I am incredibly sympathetic to those communities who were disrupted as a result of the flooding, I'm also sincerely thankful for their patience? And I'd like to extend my thanks also to staff across the entire transport network who have worked so tirelessly since the flooding began to support the travelling public. I'd also like to put on record my thanks to the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service who have worked tirelessly to support people and to support those transport authorities as well. 

Now, the A470 trunk road, as the Member has highlighted, was closed at two locations during the recent storms, including at Llanrwst. It was closed at approximately 0900 hours on Sunday, 9 February and reopened at approximately 0800 the following morning. Now, I think the Member is right that instances of flooding on the trunk road network are likely to become more frequent, given climate change, and that's why the Welsh Government is investing in a road resilience fund, specifically for investment in roads liable to flooding, and I would imagine that the A470 at those two locations would be a prime candidate for investment.

But can I also share the Member's sadness and remorse at what's happened on the Conwy line? I was there just last year visiting the works that were being undertaken by Network Rail. It was a huge endeavour and it is really tragic that, so soon after that work was completed, we've seen further damage caused by storms.