Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:44 pm on 22 September 2020.
Llywydd, I thank Russell George for raising these points, and I know of his previous concerns about them. I think Members will be reassured to know that Transport for Wales has reinstated the 06:29 service in the morning from Aberystwyth to Shrewsbury. It was reinstated on 14 September. The Llywydd, of course, will be aware of that. That is the key train service to take young people for education into Shrewsbury.
Now, it is true, as Russell George has said, that that train service is sometimes filled to a point where it is not safe to allow further passengers onto the route. And in those circumstances, Transport for Wales has extra bus capacity on standby should it be needed. Now, of course Russell George is right that, at the furthest point, that bus journey does take 45 minutes longer than the train journey would. The excess is reduced the closer young people get to Shrewsbury. But in the current circumstances, where coronavirus remains, as we've heard yesterday and today, on the rise, making sure the trains are not overcrowded and young people and other passengers put at risk is very important, and that extra bus capacity, which is there every day should it be needed, is, I think, at the moment a proportionate way to make sure, as we would all wish to see, that no young person is unable to access the education that is so important to them.