Welsh Government draft budget for 2017-18 includes the following:

As part of our Budget agreement with Plaid Cymru, we are allocating £0.5m in 2017-18 to conduct feasibility studies into the re-opening of the Carmarthen to Aberystwyth railway line and establishing a national cycleway,

£300,000 is allocated to the rail study.  The aim is a 90 minute journey time.  Only 3% of the line has been built on.

One day, maybe...

They're still continuing to ruminate over the M4 relief road, so a backwater railway line miles away from Cardiff has little chance I suspect!

Welsh Government draft budget for 2017-18 includes the following:

As part of our Budget agreement with Plaid Cymru, we are allocating £0.5m in 2017-18 to conduct feasibility studies into the re-opening of the Carmarthen to Aberystwyth railway line and establishing a national cycleway,

£300,000 is allocated to the rail study.  The aim is a 90 minute journey time.  Only 3% of the line has been built on.

One day, maybe...

...it is readily apparent that the scheme does not present a positive economic case.

As such the scheme is only likely to be progressed in regard to wider societal needs, and strategic aims, the consideration of which is beyond the scope of this study.

A welsh friend once suggested that Cardiff was a rotten place to have as the capital of Wales because it is so difficult to get to from the north of the principality. Shrewsbury would have been much better, if only certain difficulties could have been overcome (like it being in England).

Projects could include...
Creating a trans-Wales railway: connecting Wales' coastal communities by reopening the Carmarthen to Aberystwyth line together with a second phase linking our communities from north to south.

Scanning through the Plaid Cymru manifesto, as you do, I came across this under 'Welsh Green Jobs Revolution - Communications Infrastructure:


I'm more intrigued by the 'second phase'... could they really be thinking of going over the hills from Morfa Mawddach to Rhyl?

Curve to link lines at Minfforrd, regauging to just north of Tan y Grisiau, new curve to line through the existing tunnel to Roman Bridge,  I suspect  .  Joining up successful railways. Who could possibly object??

Developers of a trial using nappies to make roads say it could mean the surfaces last twice as long.

The project is being piloted in Wales, and it could mean fewer nappies are thrown into landfill.

Fibre from nappies is added to bitumen glueing together asphalt road surfaces.

The Welsh government is backing the project with £180,000 funding, and a stretch of the A487 between Aberystwyth and Cardigan  in Ceredigion has already been replaced with the nappy formula.

Trains: My 49-mile and seven-and-a-half hour journey

BBC Journalist Jared Evitts took the most direct route by train between two towns 49-miles apart. It took him seven-and-a-half hours.

Carmarthen and Aberystwyth are the two biggest towns in west Wales. To drive directly from one to the other should take about an hour and 15 minutes.

However, since the railway line between them closed in 1965, you cannot go directly between them by train.

65% passenger growth for new electric bus route

New electric TrawsCymru buses running between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth have seen a 65% increase in passengers this year.



09 Apr 2024
New electric TrawsCymru buses running between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth have seen a 65% increase in passengers this year.

Launched at the end of March 2023, the new state-of-the-art buses carried more than 100,000 passengers in their first six months in service and more recently have shown an overall increase of passengers by 65% compared to 2022/23.

Each vehicle saves 3kg of CO2 per round trip, equating to nearly 13,000 cups of tea.

Promotional offers have helped encourage more people to use the sustainable transport service including a £10 travel all-day for two adults and two children summer group ticket, an integrated rail and bus ticket for cheaper travel from Cardiff to Aberystwyth and 50% off journeys during September’s 'Catch the Bus' month.

The Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport, Ken Skates said: “This is great news for bus users and the environment. The introduction of these greener, modern, more comfortable buses has clearly encouraged more people to use the Traws Cymru T1 service and I'm grateful to everyone involved in making this happen.”

Mark Jacobs, Contracts and Performance Manager for TrawsCymru said: “Launching the all-electric TrawsCymru T1 service last year was a significant moment in the story of TfW and our development into a truly multi-modal organisation.

“Feedback on the new service has been overwhelmingly positive and the increase in passenger numbers demonstrates how an improved public transport offering can positively influence people’s travel behaviours.

“The success of the new T1 fleet is the result of an effective partnership with the teams at Carmarthenshire County Council and First Cymru, who have provided invaluable support to making this vital Carmarthen to Aberystwyth bus service the high-end public transport offering that it is today.” 

Trains: £2bn to re-open Carmarthen to Bangor lines

Re-opening railway lines that were shut in the 1960s and have left large towns without a direct rail link would cost £2bn, Transport for Wales has said.

TfW looked at the line between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth, Ceredigion and Afon Wen and Bangor in Gwynedd.

Chief executive James Price said it would be "very costly" to develop and "difficult" to implement.

Campaigners have said it was unclear how the rail operator got that figure as all studies had not yet been done.

Under the Welsh Labour government's co-operation deal with Plaid Cymru, TfW was asked to examine how transport links between the north and south could be developed

That included a potential travel corridor along the coast from Carmarthen to Bangor, with TfW looking at re-connecting the disused rail routes between Bangor and Afon Wen - about 28 miles.

Since the closure of the Aberystwyth to Carmarthen line, taking the train between the two towns - which are just 49 miles apart - takes seven hours.

Owned by the Welsh government, TfW has been responsible for train services across much of Wales since 2018.



In a letter to a Senedd committee, Mr Price said TfW looked at a "wide-ranging assessment to examine how accessibility and connectivity can be improved on the west coast of Wales".

He said the options offered shorter journey times but were "very costly to develop and implement".

A north to south rail scheme would "likely to cost circa £2bn and would take over 10 years to deliver".

He added: "Therefore, these are all difficult to realise, even as a light rail scheme. The case for Bangor - Caernarfon/Afon Wen was stronger due to shorter route length and higher demand."

Transport expert Prof Stuart Cole said the plans did not offer value for money.

He said: "As someone who lives in Llanelli, nothing would please me more than to go by train via Carmarthen to Aberystwyth. But it doesn't have a sufficiently high rate of return in financial terms.

"The number of people living in the area of the planned route is too small for an investment of this size."

People in Carmarthen supported the idea, but questioned whether it was viable.

Margaret Jones said: "I know it makes sense for the businesses each end but it's a lot of money to pay for that especially as there are so many people living on the streets... that money could be better spent."

Branwen Evans said it would be "great" if it went ahead, but doubts it will "as it will cost too much".

Former Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price believes it could be paid for from spending on the HS2 rail project in England.

"We can do that of course if HS2 is re-registered as being an England-only project, which it is," the Carmarthen East and Dinefwr Member of the Senedd said.

"Even HS2 as it now exists we would get sufficient money invested in Wales so we could achieve this national important project."

Mark Davies from campaign group Traws Link Cymru said he was "surprised" at the comments made by TfW.

He said: "It should be noted that scoping and feasibility studies are yet to be completed for the northern section of the line and therefore it is not clear how TfW have arrived at the £2bn total cost."