Rail Infrastructure Investment

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:37 pm on 7 December 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:37, 7 December 2021

Diolch yn fawr. Llywydd, the south Wales metro is funded by the Welsh Government—£438 million-worth of investment that we will have mobilised in order to make a reality of it. I pay tribute to the work of Mark Barry, quite certainly, who has for so long made the case for improved rail investment in this part of south Wales, in the south-west of Wales, and more generally too. The work of the south Wales metro is absolutely well under way—I know from my own constituency, where there is inevitable disruption to local communities while that major investment in electrification of the Valleys lines is taking place. But people recognise that the temporary disruption—provided it's properly managed—is a long-term investment in the improvements that the south Wales metro will bring: a modern, twenty-first century system that will allow people to leave the car at home, use the new public transport facilities. It's an economic investment, it's an investment in the future of our economy, and it's an investment consistent with the climate change challenge that we know we are facing.