3. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport: The Welsh Government Response to the South East Wales Transport Commission’s Final Recommendations

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:11 pm on 19 January 2021.

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Photo of Lee Waters Lee Waters Labour 4:11, 19 January 2021

I entirely agree with that last point, and that's why it's important that, through the creation of the joint transport committees, we put the planning of our bus network on a regional footing, so that these connections can be laid out and achieved. As I said, I had a very encouraging conversation with regional and local government leaders earlier this week on supporting that vision. I think we have already announced an improvement of the regional service in Alun Davies's constituency, using the TrawsCymru network to link up to the new Grange hospital. So, I think there are some things we've already delivered there and I think we're putting in place the structure to be able to deliver more.

In terms of his point about a suburban network and the need to link Ebbw Vale in particular both to Cardiff and to Newport, it's certainly the intention of the Ebbw Vale railway enhancements that they will do both—that the enhancement we hope to see this year to Crosskeys will go into Newport, where the existing service goes into Cardiff. As we go up to four services, they will serve both cities. But it's a strong point that he makes and one that I think we're going to need to keep a dialogue open on to make sure that, as we improve and enhance our public transport network, it works for all communities.