Just before Christmas in the WG Economy and Transport committee
labour Welsh economy and transport minister Ken Skates admitted that the original no growth franchise specification for the W and B franchise as let by
his own party when in charge of DFT in Westminster was
"dire". Make no mistake, the Welsh labour government has not always been happy with decisions made by Westminster Labour both when in power and in opposition. The truth is that successive Westminster governments, labour, coalition and Tory, have failed to respond in a timely way to address the underestimated (as of 2003) major growth in use of the railways in Wales and Borders. Now TFW/WG have inherited a largely clapped out fleet, which was immediately decimated by exceptional weather and leaf-fall conditions when they took over, leading to a serious set of problems which are now perceived and presented in the media and certain other quarters as having arisen directly as a result of TFW assuming control.