Bosses at Arriva Trains Wales say they're handing over Welsh railways in 'far better condition' than when they took over as new company KeolisAmey takes the reigns from this week.

The company have been criticised by passengers, some of whom held a 'celebration' event on Saturday to mark the handover of the new service.

But bosses at Arriva Trains Wales say during their 15 years running the railways the number of services rose by 24% and 91% of all services arrived within five minutes of the scheduled time.

"It's easy to forget just how far we've come in just 15 years," said Arriva Trains Wales managing director Tom Joyner.

"When you put it all together you can see just how much has been achieved across Wales and the Borders it really is phenomenal.

"These wonderful achievements are a result of so much hard work both internally and in partnership with the likes of Network Rail, Welsh Government and Department for Transport.

"They form part of our legacy and we can rightly feel proud to be handing over the franchise in a far better condition that the one we inherited in 2003."

Speaking to the BBC, Stuart Cole, professor of transport at the University of South Wales, said he was surprised Arriva managed to keep the network running with some trains that were 40 years old.

"They took over a franchise that wasn't fit for purpose. It was an old and tired railway they ran to their credit," he said.

"The reason why £5bn is going to be spent over the next 15 years is because it wasn't spent over the last 15 years."

The new operators, who will be branded as 'Transport for Wales', took control of Wales and Borders railways today after the weekend saw a series of disruptions to railways due to flooding issues caused by Storm Callum.

They have promised an £800m programme to replace all trains on the network, as well as a host of improvements to station facilities and extra services across the network.

"From day one, we'll see changes come in quite gradually," said TfW chief executive James Price.

"We'll see branding beginning to change, staff uniforms will look different, and over the coming months you'll see new services introduced.

"Then the next 12 to 18 months, the beginnings of the new rolling stock will come into play."