How often do trains travel between Aber and Shrewsbury at the moment?
Trains currently travel between Aberystwyth and Birmingham New Street, via Shrewsbury at a two hourly frequency (Mon-Sat).
So why is it important for an hourly service and what difference would it make?
The main benefits of an ehanhced service would include improving access to and from Aberystwyth itself but also to the other towns and villages served by the main line such as Borth, Machynlleth, Caersws, Newtown, Welshpool and Shrewsbury for a wide range of journeys including those undertaken for commuting, work related, health, leisure, educational, tourism and social reasons.
It would also make popular destinations such as Cardiff and London or airports at Manchester, Birmingham or Liverpool more feasible and attractive by train.
Increasing opportunities to, and therefore the attractiveness of, traveling by train could have a significant benefit in reducing the increasing parking and congestion problems that are being experienced in the towns of Mid Wales and allow travel by a more environmentally friendly way than the single occupied car.
Increasing the frequency on the Cambrian Main Line would also benefit the Cambrian Coast services to Pwllheli as it would improve connectivity at Machynlleth with services on the Main line.
Improving the reliability and performance of all the services on the Cambrian Main Line - the infrastructure enhancements, such as more passing loops, that would allow for an hourly service would have an important secondary benefit in improving the reliability and performance of all services on the Main Line.
Who set up the feasibility study?
The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG), in partnership with Network Rail and Arriva Trains Wales, are undertaking the feasibility study.
An hourly train service to and from Aberystwyth has been a long standing aspiration for many in the Mid Wales area.The necessary infrastructure improvement works required on the line to provide the enhanced service frequency could be undertaken in conjunction with Network Rail's forthcoming programme of works for the UK trial of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) which will take place on the Cambrian Lines.
How does the feasibility study work?
The consultation element of the study has included events in Shrewsbury and Machynlleth facilitated by the WAG where key stakeholders were presented with information on possible options that would allow for an hourly service. In addition, through press releases, such as the one distributed by the CRP, and other communications with Town Councils, Enterprise Groups and Tourism trade newsletters, as well as others including the Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth Rail Passenger Association (SARPA), the WAG are keen to receive the views and opinions of as wide a spectrum of interested parties as possible on the matter.
Who should people contact?
People can either make their representations to me or directly to Olwen Minney at the WAG Rail Unit - Olwen Minney, Welsh Assembly Government Rail Unit, Rail and New Roads Division 5, National Assembly for Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ:
e-mail Olwen.Minney@wales.gsi.gov.uk
What is your role in the process?
My role is to raise awareness locally of the feasibility study and to try and engage as many interested people, groups, organisations and employers in the process so that as broad a body of evidence, hopefully in support of the hourly service, can be made to the WAG.
Who are the Cambrian Rail Partnership?
It's a partnership of Ceredigion County Council, Powys County Council, Gwynedd Council, Shropshire County Council, Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough council, Welsh Assembly Government and Arriva Trains Wales.
Its main objectives include the promotion, patronage and development of the Cambrian Railways for the benefit of the local residents, businesses and visitors through a partnership
It also encourages regeneration, sustainable development and social inclusion along the corridors served by the railway.
When does the feasibility study end?
So far as the consultation period goes - my understanding is that the WAG welcome representation on the matter until 31 October 2006.
When will the results be revealed?
The WAG Rail Unit are likely to hold a feedback session in November to discuss the representations that they have received.
Q and A with Gerwyn Jones
Read more about The Cambrian Line on BBC News...
your comments
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We try to publish as many comments as we can but unfortunately, due to the volume of comments we receive every day, we cannot guarantee that all comments submitted will be published
Sheila Turner, Aberystwyth
I believe an hourly service would greatly improve travel into the Midlands, or stay at the 2 hourly service but add more carriages. I travelled from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth last Monday and people had to stand from Shrewsbury due to so many seats being reserved for overseas visitors. I don't object to this, but I object to paying for a ticket and having to stand, and no doubt others would agree. The train was also on time until it reached the point where the trains pass, and because the Aberystwyth train was late we had to wait 15 minutes, with the result we arrived late. There has to be an answer and if we are to be encouraged to use the railways then something has to be done and quickly, especially with fuel rising at a rapid rate.
Mon Jul 14 16:55:00 2008
Peter O'Driscoll from Aberystwyth
An hourly service should be introduced. It's vital to improve transport rail links along the Cambrian Line. Aberystwyth is one of the few UK Coastal towns that remains busy all year round.
Fri Jan 25 09:58:38 2008
Kayleigh Bowyer from Birmingham
An hourly service on this train line would make my life a lot simpler. I am from Birmingham but am studying at Aberystwyth university, my commute home and back would be much easier as the two hourly service never arrives when I need it to arrive, so I am either late or early either way. I think the service charges are very reasonable but the actual service unrelieble and sometimes I choose to come back a day early just to make sure I am back on time for lectures or exams.
Wed Jan 23 12:12:42 2008
Gareth Lewis Aberystwyth
I travel to London at least twice a month. The service to Birmingham is so unreliable I drive to my daughters house in Ledbury and catch the train from there. I would much rather travel direct from Aberystwyth, but until there is a reasonably better service I am afraid I will have to give Arriva Trains a miss.
Wed Jan 16 09:13:30 2008
Richard Edwards
Why dont trains pick up people from all stations from Wolverhampton to Tywyn.I live at Bilbrook and have to go to Wolverhampton to get a train which passes my stop at Bilbrook, it's the same on the return journey.
Tue Nov 20 14:07:58 2007
SL, Machynlleth
I use the train to commute from Machynlleth to Aberystwyth everyday. Those of us who finish work at 5.30pm cannot make the 5.26pm train, this means waiting in Aberystwyth until 7.26pm every night. If there were an hourly train I would be able to watch films or go to the theatre without having to make the decision to walk out before the end or stay on in Aber until nearly midnight - it would make a huge difference to my quality of life! I know several people who choose to drive in everyday on already overcrowded roads rather than take the train because of these reasons.
Mon Nov 5 15:24:51 2007
Catherine Lea, Rhayader
Don't forget about the Heart of Wales Line between Swansea and Shrewsbury, it is such a pretty line, with lovely viaducts and tunnels, children love it! Since they introduced free travel for those with a bus pass, it is more crowded, and loads of people are zooming from one end to the other, to shop in Shrewsbury, or to the beach and stuff in Swansea - but there is loads of interesting things to do at different places in between. check out the minibus tours from Llanwrtyd Wells, the Farmer's markets, at Knighton, and all sorts of walks and things to do.
Sat Sep 29 09:57:33 2007
Tim Ware, Llawr y Glyn
I totally agree with the comment that reliability is needed. Late trains and cancelled trains make a mockery of a public service. Of course once an hour would be even better but only if it does what it says on the packet
Tue Aug 28 17:15:44 2007
Dilys Hughes, Welshpool
An hourly train service would definitely be an improvement, I often travel to Birmingham from Welshpool, but why do we so often having to make our way to Wolverhampton to catch the Aberystwyth Train back home because it's been canceled from Birmingham and more often than not by the time we have reached Wolverhamton we have missed the connection.
Mon Jul 16 16:03:53 2007
Roger Howells from Newtown
Has this feasibility study been made publicly available? If so, where?
Fri Jul 6 08:51:49 2007
Kate Gnych, Lampeter and B'ham
I use the Mid-Wales service to commute to and fro from university. A more frequent service would be fantastic, but I agree with other comments that a consistent service is needed first. There is nothing more frustrating than being dumped at Wolverhampton instead of going all the way to B'ham, especially if you have had to stand the whole way due to overcrowding. It's hardly value for money at the moment.
Mon Jun 18 10:47:12 2007
Tony Russell of Devon
I visit the Cambrian Coast at least three times a year and like to catch a train to Shrewsbury from the coast. An hourly service would be excellent and would be of great use to all the Towns with station stops remaining particularly on market days. Please do not remove any more passing loops, the Cambrian has been truncated enough in the past particularly one Dr Beeching.
Wed Mar 7 09:41:51 2007
Cllr. Bob Morris, Llanbadarn Fawr.
The Cambrian line should be part of a new national park called the Cambrian Mountains Park which could be joined with Snowdonia, and as such the railway is one of the best ways to see it. There should be railway stock appropriate to serve this such as that on the Canadian "Rocky Mountaineer" that has observation cars with glass roofs and a restaraunt car. It is now time to invest more in our rolling stock as flying abroad will be branded an anti-social and expensive luxury because of climate change. Alternatives must be found and this could be one if the standard of holiday accomodation can also be brought up to scratch. It has enormous untapped potential.
Tue Feb 27 14:31:28 2007
Roderick Barton, Birmingham
An hourly service would be excellent, but the present service, in my personal experience is shambolic. Too many trains, especially in the summer, never make it from Aberystwyth beyond Wolverhampton because of late running. Changing at Wolverhampton can be a farce. One goes over the bridge to get the train to Birmingham only for the Conductor to refuse to take you with a cycle, or the train is despatched without any consideration for customers with baggage etc. An hourly service would need more infrastructure, a longer turnround time at each end of the journey, and a decent plan to deal with heavy delays/cancellations. We,and known others too, have endured bad experiences when things go wrong. Any improvements must embrace all the day to day issues of the reality of running a frequent train service over a substantial length of single line,yet runs at one end within the busy rail network in the Birmingham area.
Mon Jan 22 11:21:04 2007
Aled Hughes from Newtown
I commute from Newtown to Shrewsbury daily using the train on occasion and driving the rest of the time. Ideally, I'd like to use the train all the time but the current two hourly service doesn't make this very practical. The first two trains are at 0624 and 0840, which means I'm either arriving too early or too late. So an hourly service would be much better.
Tue Oct 24 09:21:34 2006
Dean Marsh, Carno
I feel there is so much potential for this line, an hourly service would be fantastic. Together with a couple of re-opened stations! Looking at photos from the past it seems whats left now is a shadow. Such a shame we are paying the price now from the poor decisions made in the 70's on this line!
Mon Oct 23 15:38:19 2006
M Grande Aberystwyth
I use this service frequently - and usually its fine. However, when things go wrong, they go badly wrong, and you end up at least 2 hours late. So doubling the frequency would have a huge effect on the usabiltity of the line.At present, you think twice about taking the train rather than driving if you have to be somewhere on time.Doubling the service might also reduce overcrowding, although I suspect it would also get new people using the service.An improvement to the service on Sunday would also yield huge dividends for leisure use, and connecting people to families elsewhere along the line.
Tue Oct 3 17:23:27 2006
Karen Higginson, Tywyn
Just adding a couple more carriages on would make a big difference! I'm travelling up from Cardiff tomorrow and if I catch the advertised connection from Cardiff it often misses the connection at Shrewsbury, meaning I have to wait two hours for the next one. An hourly service properly planned would be fantastic. How about a service so Cambrian Coasters could commute reasonably to Aber? Much better than driving all that way...
Thu Sep 28 14:32:20 2006
Gareth Marston from Newtown
I commute on the line and an hourly service would certinly make my work/life balance easier as I'm often forced into driving becuase of the gaps in service.
A lot of people are questioning going for an hourly service if the current one cannot be run on time. My experience of using the servivce almost daily is that its nowhere near as bad as some portray. The hourly service should put back much of the infastructure that was erroneously removed in the past and allow for improved reliability if done correctly.
The scheme is a drop in the ocean compared to the cost of building dual carriageways across Mid Wales. Lets get real and do something affordable and achievable.
Tue Sep 26 12:59:55 2006
Bet Holmes, Lampeter
I use trains from Aber to the Midlands, but only reluctantly as they are often overcrowded and often late. They are overcrowded because they are generally only 2-car stock. They are often late because it takes a long time at every station for all the people who wish to get off or on to push their way past those who are already crushed into cramped acommodation. This means each stop is longer than scheduled, (the booked turn-round at Aber is nine minutes, for crying out loud!) and that means that trains miss the scheduled "windows" at the (too few) passing places. And that, of course, means that the! trains get later and later, hence the unscheduled terminations at Wolverhampton, non-arrivals in time for connections at Birmingham, and, worse still, non-departures from Birmingham. "Catch the next available train to Wolverhampton" they say, and you do, only to find the Aber train has already departed in a vain attempt to keep on time. Hourly trains would be brilliant, but putting in the extra passing loops required will take time and money.
Tue Sep 26 10:59:22 2006
Dr.Paul Nicholas Aberaeron
I have used the Arriva trains service to Birmingham and to London on six occasions since Jan 2006. Never again. I have been stranded twice at Shrewsbury, once at Birmingham, and once at Wolverhampton. Yes, on most occasions there was a bus/taxi connection, but I use the train for environmental gain . No-one believes arrival times at Aber, we always add 20m minutes.
So, never mind about services every hour, let us have a reliable service on existing times first.
Mon Sep 25 09:25:24 2006
Philip Glynn
I agree with the principle here. I rarely use the train but the idea of having an hourly service is certainly worth considering.
Mon Sep 25 09:23:03 2006
Chris Dyer, Minehead, Somerset.
I use the trains on the former Cambrian Railways lines as much as possible. The decline of the past 40 years must be reversed and the economies effected in 1988 with the new radio tokenless signalling were sheer folly. To remove even more passing loops, after many had already gone, made no sense and the small savings made on each loop removed at the time has had a massive on-cost since. The replacements will cost hundreds of times more than the initial savings.
It is time to once again, place the horse in front of the cart and to effect improvements which will attract thousands more people off the roads and into the trains without forcing them to endure conditions which would be illegal were they to be for the conveyance of livestock.
Mon Sep 25 09:22:23 2006
Ken Rushen of Solihull
I used the Cambrian Line just 3 or 4 times a year, recently to take my grandchildren to Tywyn for the Tallyllyn Railway.
We must first solve the timekeeping problems of the 2-hourly service. An hourly service will be even more difficult to operate. It will require at least 2 extra passing loops so that trains can pass another every 30 minutes. In addition there must also be at least one emergency passing loop in between those regularly used in order to mitigate any late running. These extra ones must be bi-directional and have one fast through line and one turnout line.
Layover times at both Birmingham and Aberystwyth must be increased so that trains are more likely to depart on time. I recognise this will increase the number of diagrams required.
Unless all these criteria are met, the hourly service, desirable though it is, will not be reliable.
An hourly service will not further improve connectivity to the Pwllheli line because the recent changes have already done that. What it will do is improve the connectivity between the Pwllheli Line and Aberystwyth.
Mon Sep 25 09:21:29 2006
Richard Putley from Bath
I enjoy travelling on the Cambrian lines and think an hourly service would be a definite improvement. Experience both in the UK and elsewhere shows that improved service frequencies result in increased patronage.
Mon Sep 25 08:59:30 2006
John Holmes formerly of Aberystwyth
I used the train from Aber.to Wolverhampton last Wednesday. It was twenty minutes behind schedule in the first hour! Unless they can get the current trains to run on time what hopes are there for 'Extra' services?
Sat Sep 23 08:42:29 2006
W. Becket, Llanberis
If the train service is doubled, what will be the increase in operating costs and what is the increase in revenue expected to be?
Is it anticipated that the burden on the taxpayer - directly or otherwise - will increase or decrease?
Sat Sep 23 08:35:16 2006
Carol Handcock from Machynlleth
I use the trains regularly & they are always overcrowded & usually late. Surely this is evidence that the area badly needs an hourly mid wales train service. We have many guests arriving by train to stay at our B&B, & visiting the Technology centre, sometimes they have to stand all the way from Shrewsbury because there are not enough trains & the seats are already booked.
Fri Sep 22 14:43:00 2006
Joy Edwards, Wolverhampton formerly Aberystwyth
Yes, I use the trains in Mid-Wales frequently to visit friends and family but also for leisure. An hourly train service would be very useful and would mean I could travel more so the train companies will get more money out of me!
Fri Sep 22 11:53:43 2006
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