Will the Minister confirm why the North Wales Transport Commission was established over three years after the announcement of a South East Wales Transport Commission?
The First Minister established the South East Wales Transport Commission to investigate sustainable ways to tackle congestion on the M4 in South East Wales, following the decision not to proceed with the ‘black route’.
The North Wales Transport Commission was announced in March 2022. The commission was established in the context of Llwybr Newydd: the Wales transport strategy, published in March 2021, and the roads review, established in September 2021.
The commission builds on the success of the South East Wales Transport Commission, which was endorsed by the Union Connectivity Review. The commission is taking an evidence-led approach to develop recommendations for multi-modal, integrated transport solutions. These solutions will build on the work of the North Wales Metro, which has already seen over £50m invested by Welsh Government in its development. This investment has already seen the delivery of projects such as the Sherpa service in the Snowdonia National Park, providing electric busses to visitors and residents to travel in a sustainable way in the area.
The Commission is focused on producing recommendations to allow us to build more efficient, high-quality transport connections across and into North Wales. However, rail infrastructure is a reserved matter, so it will only be possible to fully realise our ambitions if UK Government fulfil their obligations to properly invest in the rail network in North Wales.