5. What assessment has the Minister made of the quality of rail services in Wales? OQ57338

Diolch. Transport for Wales monitor on a monthly basis the customer satisfaction with their services along with all other train operators. TfW are currently mid table and are continually striving to improve services for passengers during what has been a challenging time with COVID and adverse weather events.

Thank you for that response. I'm a very regular user of train services. In my 10 years here in the Senedd, I've driven down some twice a year. I use the train almost without exception, but I have used the train three times in the last three weeks. Three weeks ago, I was two hours late getting back to north Wales. A fortnight ago, I was caught up in the difficulty and shambles of train services on a rugby weekend—I was over an hour late getting home. And last week, I was an hour late in getting to Cardiff. Now, I am one who wants to use trains, but I have to say that I am losing faith in the service and in the ability of Transport for Wales to run the service. So, you've promised improvements over years, as we've heard this afternoon, but how patient do you expect passengers to be, because by the time you get the service up and running to where we want it, most people will have already given up?

I'm sorry to hear what Llyr Gruffydd said about his own experience travelling on the train, and how it is shaking his confidence. Clearly, if that starts to happen, then we do have significant problems. I think we do need to be understanding about the range of pressures facing the train system in Wales, and across the UK at the moment. I don’t think Transport for Wales is particularly different in some of the things it has to cope with. There has been damage to a number of trains, which has reduced the rolling stock available, and the fact that Avanti West Coast are not reinstating services across north Wales has also had an impact and created some overcrowding. I think TfW are acutely conscious of it and are working hard on it. We can’t, as Llyr Gruffydd fairly mentioned in his question, run away from the long-term impact of underinvestment that we have had, and that is now showing itself. But there's no doubt that there are, in some services, particularly acute pressures at the moment, and TfW are working hard to resolve them.

Minister, will you join me in welcoming the news of the reintroduction of direct rail services from Crosskeys to Newport, from this Sunday, 12 December, in time for Christmas? This is no mean achievement, and will be the first direct passenger rail service from the communities of Islwyn to Newport in almost 60 years. I’ve campaigned since my election to reconnect rail services in Islwyn to Newport—the proud city of Gwent—and I’m delighted that the Welsh Labour Government is delivering on that promise it made to the people of Islwyn. Minister, what actions will Welsh Labour take to deliver on our promise of the new passenger rail service from Ebbw Vale to Newport, to ensure that citizens of Newbridge can directly be reconnected to Newport, our roads decongested, our valleys further greened, and our air cleaned?

Well, not only will I join you in welcoming the Crosskeys service, but, in fact, I am getting up at 6 o'clock on Monday morning in order to catch the Crosskeys railway service and to see it come into Newport, so I don’t think my commitment can be questioned by anyone in the Chamber. It is a perfect example of what we’ve been able to do, even though rail infrastructure is not devolved to Wales—to step in where the UK Government has failed to make sure that the people of our communities are given the service they deserve.

We were able to make a significant amount of money available this year to put investment forward into the extension towards Ebbw Vale. It does require action from the UK Government and Network Rail, and we are talking to them about speeding that up. I was very pleased to read in the report by Sir Peter Hendy in the 'Union Connectivity Review' the other week his recommendation: the UK Government do more to improve rail services into Wales and within Wales. He also significantly embraced the recommendations of the Burns review, to deal with congestion around Newport, and part of that involves investing in the Ebbw Vale rail link, and comprehensively rejected the suggestion of the Prime Minister that the UK Government should build an M4 over and above the heads of devolution, completely ignoring the democratic will of the people, and explicitly said that the public transport solution set out by the Welsh Government, through the South East Wales Transport Commission, was the right way ahead. So, I think the Welsh Conservatives should show a little humility in recognising that their own Government's report has rejected a call they've been loudly making in this Chamber, and I hope, together, we can move on and focus on public transport investment and looking at the UK Government playing its part in that.

At the weekend, I was contacted by a constituent who said, 'I took the train from Cardiff about 3.23 and arrived in Chester after midnight on a train that should've arrived at 6.23 p.m. Passengers and I think Transport for Wales were aware of the problem before we left Cardiff Central. This was 17 November.'

Last Monday, like Llyr, on the twenty-ninth, I pre-booked my ticket from Wrexham General down here, but I knew there were problems. I rang Transport for Wales, they confirmed my train had been cancelled but the next one was running as scheduled. When I arrived, myself and other passengers saw, on the overhead signage, right up until the time of arrival, that the train was on time. But, bang on the minute when the train was due, tannoy said, 'train cancelled'. We had to wait until another hour and a half for the next train in freezing cold weather, with the waiting room locked, because now Transport for Wales locks Wrexham waiting room from 6 p.m. The issue here is—I clearly understand that problems occur with track, and that has to be dealt with, but there was a failure of passenger care, a failure of passenger information, which could have prevented people having to stay on the platform for so long in such inclement circumstances. So, how can you propose to address that information issue, so that passengers are protected from similar situations occurring?

Well, I really am sorry to hear about that experience that the Member and his fellow passengers had, and that clearly isn't good enough. There are acute operational challenges being faced by Transport for Wales at the moment, and I think they need to reflect on his experience, and I will ask them to look into the circumstances in particular and take the point on board that he made, and the understanding he showed that when difficulties do occur, the communication is more important than at any other time. So, I think there are lessons to be learned from that, and I will speak to them and write to him about it.