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 5:19 pm on 3 November 2020.

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Photo of Huw Irranca-Davies Huw Irranca-Davies Labour 5:19, 3 November 2020

Minister, you'll know that I chair the Senedd co-operative group—a great bunch of people there. So, can I ask, now that we're rightly, I have to say, taking greater control of the rail franchise in Wales, whether Welsh Government will now seek to embed mutual principles in the governance of the Wales and borders rail franchise, giving a greater say to rail users and rail workers, and look to successful mutuals such as Merthyr Valleys Homes for best-practice principles and the Wales Co-operative Centre for governance expertise in doing so? That would be really welcome, and we'd welcome a discussion on that.

Minister, one other point. Whilst really welcoming the Sunday service we've had on the Llynfi line, the tremendous co-operation that we've had from Welsh Government and funding to explore options around Pencoed, and releasing the bottleneck that we have there, can I ask whether we're likely to see, now, progress on an update for my constituents on the rail frequency enhancements on the Maesteg-Bridgend line? It would be great to hear more about that sometime soon.