Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Climate Change – in the Senedd at 1:47 pm on 8 December 2021.
Thank you. I think the full quote, to give him fairness, was to acknowledge that there were considerable challenges of overcrowding, and some passengers were refusing to wear masks despite the very clear guidelines, but fundamentally, the trains are safe, given the cleaning regimes put in place, and given all the other things that Transport for Wales are doing to follow the guidelines. They're making extraordinary efforts, but there is no doubt that there are challenges, and there are a number of reasons for that.
You quoted the issue of the rugby matches that were held by the Welsh Rugby Union late in the evening when they knew full well that there would be limited train services following the game, which would create, clearly, a pressure on the system. There are also other problems hitting the rail industry at the moment, where trains are being cancelled and carriages being damaged because of the storms and because of the weather. In fact, on the train I caught up to Glasgow, one was taken out of service because it hit a pheasant on the line. Now, that is not TfW's fault. There's also a challenge around staff absences because of self-isolation, so there's no doubt that the public transport system is under great pressure at the moment.
The issue of mask wearing is ultimately one of personal responsibility. There are people claiming to be exempt from mask wearing when, clearly, that is not the case. But it is almost impossible to prove that. We have, working with British Transport Police, measures in place to enforce mask wearing, and a number of people have been removed from services when challenged and not able to provide a valid excuse. I think there are a confluence of conditions all converging to make things very challenging, but public transport remains a safe mode of transport. But there's no doubt that, sometimes in the day, services are crowded.