2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:32 pm on 7 June 2022.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 2:32, 7 June 2022

Could I call for a single statement, on rail services in north-east Wales? I don't know whether you read in our local press last Saturday reporting of the Wrexham-Bidston Rail Users' Association saying that Transport for Wales appears incapable of providing passengers with a reliable service, that they were operating a reduced service last Saturday on the Borderlands line running from Wrexham, Shotton and Bidston on to the Wirral, with the usual hourly service reduced, with direct trains running at two-hour intervals, and Transport for Wales's own journey planner website making no mention of that day's reduced service, and regular commuters going to catch their usual trains finding that they're not operating.

In fact, the users' association contacted me afterwards and said that the reduced service is also now being shown on the line on Sunday, and there's an intimation on social media that 150s from the Wrexham-Bidston and Conwy Valley lines have been redeployed to south Wales because of the football match in Cardiff. Quote: 'The Wrexham-Bidston line service continues to be perceived in the communities it serves as unreliable, and most of the long-promised service improvements have yet to be realised. This is not the sort of service your constituents should expect from Transport for Wales. Any assistance you could give to seek immediate and sustained improvement to passenger information and service reliability, through the Senedd, would be greatly appreciated.'

So, I call for a statement from the Minister for Climate Change, or her deputy, to explain what happened and to answer the concerns raised by the rail users' association regarding the service last weekend again being faced with such circumstances.