English: I've learnt a lot about trains since being elected as AM. I used to do what most people do - just get on a train. It would, hopefully, get me to where I would want to go, roughly on time, hopefully, and that was it, really. But I've learned that making that happen is a pretty complex matter. One of the things I learnt early on as a member of the Enterprise and Business Committee in the last Assembly is that just getting a train is problematic in itself. Trains are hard to come by, quite often - a problem that has been particularly acute in Wales, much of that, again, down to the abysmal specification of the last franchise. 'Cascading' sounds almost romantic - the idea of cascading trains from one user to another. It means passing on your old stock to another user, possibly doing it up a bit on the way, passing it on to another one, passing it on to another one - I should say 'cascading' it on to another one. Wales, more often than not, was at the bottom of the cascade, with second, third, fourth hand, decades-old trains in many instances. It is exciting that there is a programme of delivering new rolling stock in years to come, although it is way, way overdue, of course. The rolling stock companies, by the way, the ROSCOs, were set up by the Tories to take over the previously publicly owned rolling stock. It was discovered that they could make much more money, not by renewing rolling stock, but by overcharging for ageing, cascaded stock. So, we've suffered the blunt edge of that here in Wales. But, as we move towards the end of this year, the trains that we have now, the old, cascaded stock, a lot of it, have to go because of PRM-compliance issues, the need for accessibility on all our trains. Now, we've known this was coming for some time, and we've also known that we have a problem with procuring rolling stock. We, as a committee in the last Assembly, warned Welsh Government, 'Even though there are years to go until the end of that franchise, you have to be planning for new rolling stock to take us into the next franchise.' Now, with the PRM compliance issue in particular, we now know that Welsh Government did not act quickly enough to seek a dispensation to continue using non-compliant trains after the end of this year, when it became clear that new trains wouldn't be available on time. There are serious consequences to not getting that dispensation. The removal of non-compliant Pacers from service would result in a loss of nearly half the rolling stock used for Valleys lines. There are also several other trains that are non-PRM compliant that would be grounded, along with the Pacers, should the necessary dispensation not be in place by 1 January 2020, including - it's not just Valleys trains - some trains currently used for the Holyhead service. Services could be axed on other parts of the network - for example, Fishguard, Wrexham, Holyhead - in order to maximise the rolling stock available for use on the Valleys lines, those busy, busy commuter lines. Now, at a recent drop-in session in the Assembly, Transport for Wales said that they would be using a two-car Pacer train coupled to a PRM-compliant Sprinter to ensure the trains are compliant, even if parts of the train are non-compliant, and I think Transport for Wales have been saying that on Twitter too. A recent press release, though, stating that they'll be using the Pacers predominantly as four-car sets on the Rhymney line, seems to contradict the information coming from other Transport for Wales sources. But the fleet data would suggest that there aren't enough compliant sets, there aren't enough Sprinters, in order to enable even that plan, and that Transport for Wales would have to run some trains as Pacer only. Now, it's not only Wales that has been unable to get new trains on time. Northern Rail were also in a similar position, but they got the dispensation, and our concern here is that Welsh Government, even though, as our motion states, they were warned years ago about the need to plan for changes in rolling stock, to plan for a future in that context where we know rolling stock is hard to come by, but where there are serious procurement issues. Welsh Government did not act until it was too late, and I have not yet heard from Welsh Government an assurance other than that they are in active discussions with the Department for Transport and the UK Government, and that these discussions are ongoing.
Welsh: Rwyf wedi dysgu llawer am drenau ers cael fy ethol yn AC. Roeddwn i'n arfer gwneud yr hyn y mae'r rhan fwyaf o bobl yn ei wneud - jest mynd ar drên. Byddai'n mynd â mi i ble y byddwn i eisiau mynd, ar amser fwy neu lai, gobeithio, a dyna ni a dweud y gwir. Ond rwyf wedi dysgu bod gwneud i hynny ddigwydd yn fater eithaf cymhleth. Un o'r pethau a ddysgais yn gynnar fel aelod o'r Pwyllgor Menter a Busnes yn y Cynulliad diwethaf yw fod cael hyd i drên yn broblem ynddi'i hun. Mae'n anodd dod o hyd i drenau, yn aml iawn - problem sydd wedi bod yn arbennig o ddifrifol yng Nghymru, a llawer o hynny, unwaith eto, oherwydd manyleb drychinebus y fasnachfraint ddiwethaf. Mae 'rhaeadru' yn swnio bron yn rhamantus - y syniad o raeadru trenau o un defnyddiwr i'r llall. Mae'n golygu trosglwyddo'ch hen stoc i ddefnyddiwr arall, gan ei ailwampio rywfaint yn y broses efallai, a'i drosglwyddo o un i'r llall, ei drosglwyddo o un i'r llall - dylwn ddweud ei 'raeadru' o un i'r llall. Roedd Cymru, yn amlach na pheidio, ar waelod y rhaeadr, gyda threnau ail, trydydd, pedwerydd llaw, degawdau oed yn aml iawn. Mae'n gyffrous fod yna raglen ar gyfer cyflenwi cerbydau newydd mewn blynyddoedd i ddod, er ei bod hi ymhell ar ei hôl hi wrth gwrs. Cafodd y cwmnïau cerbydau trên, gyda llaw, y ROSCOs, eu sefydlu gan y Torïaid i gymryd meddiant ar y cerbydau a oedd gynt yn eiddo cyhoeddus. Darganfuwyd y gallent wneud llawer mwy o arian, nid trwy adnewyddu cerbydau, ond trwy godi gormod am stoc a oedd yn heneiddio, stoc a raeadrir. Felly, rydym wedi dioddef canlyniadau gwaethaf hynny yma yng Nghymru. Ond wrth i ni symud tuag at ddiwedd y flwyddyn hon, mae'n rhaid i'r hen stoc o drenau wedi'u rhaeadru sydd gennym yn awr, mae'n rhaid i lawer ohono fynd oherwydd problemau ynghylch cydymffurfio â rheoliadau pobl â chyfyngiadau symudedd (PRM), yr angen am hygyrchedd ar bob un o'n trenau. Nawr, rydym yn gwybod bod hyn yn dod ers peth amser, ac rydym hefyd yn gwybod bod gennym broblem gyda chaffael cerbydau. Fel pwyllgor yn y Cynulliad diwethaf, fe wnaethom rybuddio Llywodraeth Cymru, 'Er bod blynyddoedd i fynd tan ddiwedd y fasnachfraint, rhaid i chi gynllunio ar gyfer cerbydau newydd i fynd â ni i mewn i'r fasnachfraint nesaf.' Nawr, gyda mater cydymffurfio â rheoliadau pobl â chyfyngiadau symudedd yn arbennig, gwyddom bellach na weithredodd Llywodraeth Cymru yn ddigon cyflym i wneud cais am ryddhad i barhau i ddefnyddio trenau nad oeddent yn cydymffurfio ar ôl diwedd y flwyddyn hon, pan ddaeth yn amlwg na fyddai trenau newydd ar gael mewn pryd. Mae yna ganlyniadau difrifol i beidio â chael y rhyddhad hwnnw. Byddai tynnu trenau Pacer nad ydynt yn cydymffurfio oddi ar y rheilffyrdd yn arwain at golli bron i hanner y cerbydau a ddefnyddir ar reilffyrdd y Cymoedd. Ceir sawl trên arall hefyd nad ydynt yn cydymffurfio â rheoliadau pobl â chyfyngiadau symudedd a fyddai'n cael eu tynnu oddi ar y rheilffyrdd gyda'r trenau Pacer os nad yw'r rhyddhad angenrheidiol ar waith erbyn 1 Ionawr 2020, gan gynnwys - nid trenau'r Cymoedd yn unig - rhai trenau a ddefnyddir ar hyn o bryd ar gyfer gwasanaeth Caergybi. Gellid diddymu gwasanaethau ar rannau eraill o'r rhwydwaith - er enghraifft, Abergwaun, Wrecsam, Caergybi - er mwyn sicrhau bod cymaint â phosibl o gerbydau ar gael i'w defnyddio ar reilffyrdd y Cymoedd, y rheilffyrdd cymudo prysur iawn hynny. Nawr, mewn sesiwn galw heibio yn y Cynulliad yn ddiweddar, dywedodd Trafnidiaeth Cymru y byddent yn defnyddio trên Pacer dau gerbyd ynghyd â thrên Sprinter sy'n cydymffurfio â rheoliadau pobl â chyfyngiadau symudedd i sicrhau bod y trenau'n cydymffurfio, hyd yn oed os nad yw rhannau o'r trên yn cydymffurfio, a chredaf fod Trafnidiaeth Cymru wedi bod yn dweud hynny ar Twitter hefyd. Er hynny, mae'n ymddangos bod datganiad i'r wasg diweddar, a nodai y byddant yn defnyddio'r trenau Pacer yn bennaf fel setiau pedwar cerbyd ar reilffordd Rhymni, yn gwrth-ddweud yr wybodaeth sy'n dod o ffynonellau Trafnidiaeth Cymru eraill. Ond byddai data'r fflyd yn awgrymu nad oes digon o setiau sy'n cydymffurfio, nid oes digon o drenau Sprinter, i alluogi'r cynllun hwnnw hyd yn oed, a byddai'n rhaid i Trafnidiaeth Cymru redeg rhai trenau fel trenau Pacer yn unig. Nawr, nid Cymru'n unig sydd wedi methu cael trenau newydd mewn pryd. Roedd Northern Rail hefyd mewn sefyllfa debyg, ond cawsant y rhyddhad, a'n pryder yma yw fod Llywodraeth Cymru, er iddi gael rhybudd flynyddoedd yn ôl, fel y dywed ein cynnig, am yr angen i gynllunio ar gyfer newid cerbydau, i gynllunio ar gyfer y dyfodol yn y cyd-destun hwnnw lle gwyddom ei bod yn anodd dod o hyd i gerbydau, ond lle ceir problemau caffael difrifol. Ni weithredodd Llywodraeth Cymru nes ei bod yn rhy hwyr, ac nid wyf eto wedi cael sicrwydd gan Lywodraeth Cymru heblaw eu bod mewn trafodaethau ar hyn o bryd gyda'r Adran Drafnidiaeth a Llywodraeth y DU, a bod y trafodaethau hyn yn parhau.