Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:53 pm on 20 September 2022.
Reductions in prices for public transport fares actually don't automatically, inevitably lead to that kind of revenue reduction. It depends on the elasticity of demand for public transport. This is the case that the rail unions have been making, that, actually, if you reduce fares, you increase patronage, and of course you have a situation at the moment that, still, train journeys have only returned to around 50 to 70 per cent of pre-COVID levels. So, I think the First Minister is wrong in his analysis there.
Now, generally speaking, fare increases in rail transport in Wales follow the retail price index in July, which would mean an increase of 11.8 per cent for next year. Can the First Minister at least say that we're not going to see that? Scotland and England have announced a freeze in fares until at least March next year; in Northern Ireland, rails fares have been frozen since 2019. If the First Minister's not prepared to say he'll reduce fares, can he at least commit to the kind of fare freeze that we've seen introduced elsewhere?