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Residents show opposition to Heart of Wales line cuts

By Emily Price
Heart of Wales line - Image: Heart of Wales Line Community Rail Partnership

Emily Price

Communities in mid-Wales have come together to register their opposition to proposed cuts to the Heart of Wales rail line.

Over 100 people attended the meeting in Knighton, Powys on Thursday (November 7) which was organised by Liberal Democrat MS Jane Dodds and Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe MP David Chadwick.

Transport for Wales (TfW) plan to cut services along the line in December from five trains a day to four and will remove the two late evening services to Llandovery and Llandrindod Wells.

The Welsh Government says the decision has taken into account changing passenger demand.

The Heart of Wales line, which runs from Shrewsbury through southern Powys and into Carmarthenshire before terminating in Llanelli has survived multiple closure proposals in the past.

Locals worry the latest downgrade puts the line’s long-term viability at risk.

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Breakdowns

Residents have also complained of repeated delays and cancellations due to the diesel trains that have been in use since the 1980s.

A Freedom of Information request revealed that there were 2,317 train breakdowns reported in 2023 with over 2,000 services being cancelled as a result of train failures.

Unlike all other lines in Wales, which are in the process of receiving new trains, TfW does not intend to replace the rolling stock on the Heart of Wales line.

The Liberal Democrats say that as well as allowing commuters to travel to Llanelli, Swansea, Hereford and Shrewsbury - the line is also "vital" for the local tourism industry serving as a gateway to Bannau Brycheiniog.

The line itself is also considered a tourist attraction - in 2024 it was named one of the top ten train rides in Europe by Lonely Planet.

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Petition

The Lib Dems have called on the Welsh Government to scrap the planned cuts to public transport in rural Wales and have also launched a petition.

Jane Dodds said: "The Heart of Wales line is absolutely vital to the communities of Mid Wales and the Liberal Democrats stand firmly against these cuts.

"It is outrageous that TfW are blaming the cuts on low usage when most people we speak to say they aren’t using the Line due to how unreliable it is and TfW refuse to buy more modern trains to stop the cancellations.

"I will be pushing the Welsh Labour Government to step in a cancel these cuts.”

David Chadwick added: "It is hypocritical that we have seen the Welsh Labour Government tell people they need to drive less yet are allowing cuts to vital public transport services across mid Wales.

"With Labour spending millions on metro projects in south Wales, they can afford to find the extra money to protect the already very limited rail services we have here in Mid Wales.

"Rural residents are not second-class citizens; they pay their taxes like everyone else in the country and should be able to rely on access to public services."

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at TfW, said: “We appreciate passengers will be disappointed with these changes to Heart of Wales line, however capacity will be improved on this service in the coming months – with more seats and dedicated bike spaces.

“The proposed new timetables will provide us with more resilience in the winter period and meet changed travel demands post Covid.

“Nearly every service TfW operates requires public subsidy, and as a responsible operator it’s imperative for TfW to balance the needs for a regular, robust and reliable service with available budgets to deliver value for taxpayers and more sustainable transport."

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7 comments

Bob McIntyre

I should point out that nothing similar has been organised at the southern end of the Heart of Wales line where there would appear to be no interest in the line whatsoever... And a correction: you have quoted an FoI request stating that 2,317 train breakdowns reported in 2023 with over 2,000 services being cancelled. This could not be correct even for the Heart of Wales line which has about 4500 trains per annum. Even the Heart of Wales isn't quite that bad although the last weekday when all the trains ran and were on time (i.e. within 5 minutes) at Llandovery was Thursday May 16 or nearly six months ago.

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John Ellis

'... nothing similar has been organised at the southern end of the Heart of Wales line where there would appear to be no interest in the line whatsoever…' I'm old enough to remember the time when, back in the 1960s, what was then usually known as the Central Wales line was previously under threat in the course of Dr Richard Beeching's drastic pruning of rail services when he was running British Railways. My recollection is that the line only survived then because of the paucity of other public transport services across some the parts of mid-Wales which the line served., and that public campaigns to retain it were all driven from communities north of Llandovery. Interest in retaining it was considerably less south of Llandovery because alternative bus services were available and were reasonably frequent. Though I notice that even in the remoter areas bus services are better than they once were. In the mid-1970s I lived for a while in Llanbister in north Radnorshire, which back then only had a bus service one day a week, when it was market day in Newtown. Now I notice that the village is served by six buses per day each way on a Newtown - Cardiff service.

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Clive Hopper

Just another example of public transport deteriorating. Let's hope there is a significant change in policy before next Assembly elections otherwise Reform will get in.

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Brychan

The Welsh Government don't invest in areas of Wales that don't vote Labour.

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Another Richard

My last attempt to use the Heart of Wales line ended in failure on Easter Monday this year. All trains were cancelled and no replacement buses were cancelled, so I had to call the friends I'd been staying with to ask for a lift. The previous time I'd used it there was a last-minute minibus replacement, and the driver took a wrong turning. We were well over an hour late on a journey of that should have taken 45 minutes. Also, does anyone actually use the 2115 from Swansea to Llandovery or the 2243 in the reverse direction? What use are these trains, especially if you cannot be sure they will run? A quarter past nine departure is too early to have spent an evening in Swansea, attending a football match or concert, say, and far too late for work or shopping. It would be better to have a slimmed-down service that actually ran than the mess we have now.

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Another Richard

Sorry I meant to say "no replacement buses were provided" (because they simply weren't available on a bank holiday).

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Simon

Its not surprising that more people don't use the line. There are too few trains. You can go shopping in Shrewsbury, but then you find yourself waiting to go back and there's always the worry to if you miss the service, or it's cancelled, then you will be stuck! If there was some advertising then more people would use the line. People living nearby the line barely knows it's there and if they do, then they don't know where it goes. It could be a tourist attraction if the line side had it's vegetation thinned out a bit where a good view is on offer. It's annoying to see just a glimpse. a glimpse of a hotel at each end put some effort into advertising then that would also help as it makes for a nice day trip.

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My last attempt to use the Heart of Wales line ended in failure on Easter Monday this year. All trains were cancelled and no replacement buses were cancelled, so I had to call the friends I'd been staying with to ask for a lift. The previo...

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