PLANS to revolutionise public transport around Newport will be a "test" of the UK Government's willingness to invest in South East Wales and promises to 'level up' the region.

Welsh transport minister Ken Skates said there was "great interest" and "willingness" to act on the recommendations proposed by Lord Burns and the South East Wales Transport Commission last month.

Those proposals laid out a complete overhaul of public transport, based on rail. The commission said four new stations should provide the backbone for a so-called "network of alternatives" that would end commuters' reliance on the M4.

The commission was set up in the wake of the decision to abandon the 'Black Route' relief road motorway around Newport – the source of much political squabbling in Cardiff Bay and beyond.

READ MORE: Plans for public transport overhaul in city – including four new train stations

But in the Senedd on Tuesday, there was genuine enthusiasm from all parties for the commission's proposals.

Mr Skates said the report was "a coherent and realistic plan for this vital corridor of Wales" and would be complemented by the Welsh Government's new transport strategy.

The region's rail infrastructure is the responsibility of the Westminster government, and Mr Skates said he had met already with UK ministers and Network Rail boss Sir Peter Hendy to discuss the proposals.

A new partnership – comprising the Welsh Government, Newport City Council, and Transport for Wales – will be set up to consider each of the commission's 72 proposals, he added.

Conservative shadow transport minister Russell George said he "broadly welcomed the recommendations" but reminded the Senedd the M4 around Newport had "inadequacies" and that much time and money was spent on the relief road proposal, before it was binned in 2019.

Newport West MS Jayne Bryant said the commission's "exciting" proposals were for "a public transport system that Newport deserves".

The Labour MS added: "Inaction is not an option. We, in Newport, have been here before. Progress needs to be made, and it needs to be made urgently."

Mr Skates said plans were already under way to develop the rapid bus and cycle commuter corridors backed by the commission, and Transport for Wales would be asked to consider reopening a railway station in Caerleon.

Independent MS David Rowlands said Mr Skates should push for Welsh railway infrastructure to be devolved, thereby making the commission's proposals easier to achieve.

And Plaid Cymru MS Delyth Jewell asked how confident the minister was that Westminster would want to collaborate with the Welsh Government.

"Ultimately, a test of the UK government's willingness to level up, willingness to invest in a way that runs against traditional constraints of the Treasury Green Book, will determine the success of the Lord Burns recommendations, but I am hopeful that the UK government will embrace it rather than reject it," Mr Skates replied.