Public Transport in South Wales West

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:04 pm on 5 July 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:04, 5 July 2022

I thank Sioned Williams for those questions. I agree with what she said about the importance of public transport, particularly in some of the communities in her region, but I don't think she offers us a fair account of the work that's being undertaken by the Swansea bay metro. This year's programme, for example, includes business case and feasibility studies into the provision of an additional four trains per hour between Pontarddulais and Swansea, going via Neath, and up to six new stations across the northern Swansea suburbs. The Swansea bay hydrogen bus project will go out for procurement in this financial year. That's procurement of between 20 and 40 hydrogen fuel cell buses to support public transport in the region, and the depot that will be needed in order to service them. Brand new CAF trains will run in the Swansea bay metro region by the end of this year, and the local transport fund, aligned with the metro proposals, is funding the Neath transport hub regeneration. We all wish we could do more; we all wish we could go more quickly. Within the constraints of the budget that we have, I think there are real and immediate actions that the Swansea bay and west Wales metro project is putting into place, and they will contribute to that integrated transport system that we know is important, both in the immediate Swansea area but in its hinterland as well.