2. What action will the Welsh Government take to improve transport connectivity across Wales? OQ56609

Llywydd, our strategy for transport connectivity across Wales is set out in the Wales transport strategy, 'Llwybr Newydd'. For south-east Wales, for example, this draws on the recommendations of the Burns commission and its 58 recommendations, ranging from improvements on the south Wales main line to local measures.  

Thank you, First Minister. Yesterday, I met with the representatives of Paragon ID, the leading providers of smartcards for transport and smart cities. They are responsible for providing smartcards for over 150 cities worldwide and were behind the Oyster card, as seen here, in London. First Minister, it is a passion of mine to see an all-Wales travel card. I'm hoping to have a card just like this that will allow people from all socioeconomic backgrounds and age groups to use this card. For example, a person could board a bus from their home in Newport to the railway station and then use the same card on the train to Swansea and get the bus from Swansea station, for example, to Swansea University. During our discussion, it became apparent that much of the technology for an all-Wales travel card is already in place, and all that is required to bring this about is for the Welsh Government to work with stakeholders and provide the investment. Establishing a Wales travel pass for use on local or sub-regional networks across all operators will ensure more seamless journeys for residents, tourists, commuters and students all across Wales, and ultimately encourage tourism, assisting visitors to travel easily and conveniently from north to south, from east to west Wales. Will you, First Minister, commit to exploring the possibility of introducing an all-Wales travel card, similar to the Oyster card here, in Wales? And I promise not to make you call it the Natasha Asghar travel card if you do. 

Well, Llywydd, I congratulate the Member on her appointment as the transport spokesperson for the opposition, and thank her for the ideas that she's explored this afternoon. While she was meeting her group yesterday, I was meeting a group of entrepreneurs from Cardiff who were promoting the idea of a Welsh card to me that they have been developing, which would have some of the same characteristics as the card that she has just outlined. So, in principle, I think there is a great deal that is worth exploring in the ideas that the Member has set out. I don't think it would be right for me to commit to a particular solution promoted by a particular company or a group of companies, but she asks me whether I will commit to exploring the possibility of a card that would improve transport connectivity across Wales, and I'm very happy to give that commitment.  

If we are to have a transport network that is fit for the twenty-first century, then it must service the vehicles using those roads. To date, the network isn't fit for purpose in that regard. There aren't enough charging points, never mind hydrogen stations. Now, I note that your programme for government, which you will refer to later on this afternoon, will state that you will create a modern legislative framework for transport in Wales, but there is no detail contained. Can we have an assurance that our road network will be fit for purpose for new vehicles and that rural areas will not lose out? And can we also have a timetable for the development of the charging points and hydrogen stations that will be necessary? Thank you. 

Well, Llywydd, I thank Mabon ap Gwynfor for that question, and, of course, I agree about the importance of creating and putting things in place that are appropriate for us and fit for the future. I am not setting out the legislative programme this afternoon; that will be laid before the Senedd before the end of term. However, to legislate in the areas of buses and taxis in particular was in our programme before the election, and we're eager to press ahead to legislate in that area in order to create a system for the future that is fit for purpose. And, of course, we're thinking about rural areas. That's why we're investing as a Government in charging points. The UK Government's opinions is that it's up to the market to create those kinds of possibilities, but we know that that won't happen across the whole of Wales if we just depend on the private market. That's why we're investing as a Government and we're investing in rural Wales as well.   

First Minister, I think there's a very broad welcome for the £70 million that the Welsh Government is going to be providing to enhance the Ebbw valley line over the coming years, and, in making this investment, of course, the Welsh Government is making good the failure of the United Kingdom Government to invest in these matters, and I think many of us would wish that the UK Government would spend as much on Welsh infrastructure as they do on their own press officers; we might be in a better position. First Minister, could you give us this afternoon an outline of the timescale for the enhancements that we hope to see on the Ebbw valley line? Could you also give me an undertaking that you and the Government will continue to campaign for the devolution of rail infrastructure to ensure that we will have the tools and the funds to do the job ourselves? 

I thank Alun Davies for that, Llywydd. It was a matter of great disappointment to us that when the UK Government finally published its long-delayed response to the Williams review, it made no mention at all in that response to the potential for future and further devolution of responsibility for rail infrastructure, as that was part of the original terms of reference that the UK Government itself set for the Williams review.

But, when it came to it, it chose to ignore that whole aspect, despite the fact that the Hendy review of union connectivity specifically says that devolution of transport responsibilities across the United Kingdom has been a success story. The Hendy review urges the UK Government to build on that success, and I look forward to that real test of the UK Government when it publishes its final response to the Hendy review this summer.

As far as the Ebbw valley line is concerned, I was very pleased that we were able to provide that £70 million to Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council. It will enable us, Llywydd, to move ahead with greater services for that part of Wales. From December of this year, a new hourly service will be brought about on the Ebbw Vale line from Crosskeys to Newport, and the £70 million that we have provided will allow two trains an hour to operate on that line from Ebbw Vale itself from 2023.

So, the plans are there to use that money to improve services in the way that the Member has suggested and to answer some of the questions already raised this afternoon, Llywydd, because not only will they bring better transport facilities to that part of Wales, but they will allow people to use an effective, convenient public transport system, leaving the car behind and adding to those benefits of clean air and other environmental improvements that we've already discussed today.