5. Statement by the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales: Future of Rail — Details of the new arrangements

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:20 pm on 3 November 2020.

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Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 5:20, 3 November 2020

Can I thank Huw Irranca-Davies for his questions? I'd like to assure him from the outset that Maesteg has certainly not been forgotten during the course of pretty intense negotiations. I can tell Huw Irranca-Davies actually that I'm pleased that TfW are going to be taking forward work on the Welsh transport appraisal guidance stage 2 process late next month or early January. I think that's vitally important, because we need to be able to demonstrate that, during the course of the transition period, work will continue in enhancing rail frequency and in delivering the sort of upgrades that are required to provide more frequent services.

In terms of the work that Huw does on the co-operative group, I'd like to congratulate him for that sterling work, and I'd agree that the mutual principles are vitally important in terms of the new operating model. We've already offered worker representation on the TfW board, and I'm keen to extend mutual principles to the establishment of TfW Rail Ltd, who will be responsible for that publicly owned delivery of rail services under the new operating model.