THE South Wales Metro could result in towns in Gwent becoming "commuter communities", with people travelling to and from Cardiff for work, an AM has said.

The project, which will see a network of trains, trams and buses running throughout the region, is part of the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, with work to begin when the new Wales and Borders contract begins in October.

But South Wales East AM Steffan Lewis has said he is concerned the ambitious project will not improve public transport links between villages, towns and cities in the region, but simply make it easier to commute into and out of the capital.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, the Plaid Cymru AM said this would be “a big missed opportunity” and called on the Welsh Government to make it clear if this was the plan, and what the implications of it would be.

“The Labour Party needs to come clean to the people about what the Valleys communities and a city like Newport would become over the next generation,” he said.

“They will be commuter communities. The greater Cardiff area will be where the jobs are, and people will be expected to travel in and work in Cardiff and go home to commuter communities.

“I’m not sure we’ve had that debate around whether that’s the sort of community we want to build in the Valleys or Newport.

“As a man of Gwent I am always dubious about these super-regional structures which lump us in with bits of Glamorgan and the capital city, because Gwent has always historically had Newport as its centre, and the Valleys communities have always had a relationship with that centre.”

He added: “There’s always the risk when you’re pursuing a city region model in the first place that it becomes about the centre rather than the periphery.

“If you look at the so-called Cardiff Capital Region, even a city like Newport is concerned it’s going to miss out on major infrastructure due to Cardiff getting most of the attention.

“And that’s before we get to the Heads of the Valleys area."

The Welsh Government has repeatedly said the Metro is intended to benefit the entire south east Wales region, and will create jobs and drive economic development throughout the area.

The network will reach from Monmouth and Abergavenny in the east to Porthcawl and Maesteg in the west, and from Penarth in the south to Ebbw Vale, Merthyr Tydfil and Treherbert in the north.