Cabinet Secretary agrees to meeting over Heart of Wales line cuts

Ken Skates, the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales & Transport has agreed to meet with Adam Price and other politicians to discuss the future of the Heart of Wales line.

Earlier this month, Transport for Wales (TfW) confirmed it is planning to reduce its Heart of Wales timetable as part of a review of services.

In a statement, TfW said that the line would be reduced from “five through services to four per day from December 2024” and confirmed the “removal of the two late evening services to Llandovery and Llandrindod.”

TfW also confirmed it was intending to defer some previous commitments to increase services on certain routes.

Mr Price, MS for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, expressed disappointment at the news in The Senedd last week and asked the new Cabinet Secretary to meet with the relevant stakeholders to discuss the future of the line.

Reinstated

Mr Skates, who is responsible for TfW, said in response: “I’d be more than happy to speak with Members and with the people that [Adam Price] represents over this marvellous route… Our objective is to make sure that we drive up patronage, so we need to find ways of increasing interest in the route, so that, at some point in the future, it [can] be reinstated.

Welcoming the commitment, Mr Price said: “I’m delighted that the new Cabinet Secretary has agreed agree to meet with a range of stakeholders over the Heart of Wales line. The route has recently won an award for being the ‘Best in Europe’ by the Lonely Plant, which makes the reduction in service all the more frustrating.

“It’s vital now that all those with an interest in ensuring the route thrives, come together to have a conversation to see how we can maximise the usage of the line, in an integrated manner, so that it can provide an excellent service to all of its users.”

Announcing a consultation on the changes which runs until 13 May, TfW said: “As a responsible operator it is imperative that we balance the needs for a regular, robust and reliable service within our budgets and against our targets to deliver more sustainable transport.

“We have developed our future timetable to better align with the new travel habits and requirements of customers, whilst becoming a truly multimodal operator. That means we’re looking at demand and the opportunities for growth across bus and rail together.

“On the railway, some routes will see little change, others will see slightly different calling patterns better targeted to current needs, but in other areas we have had to make some tough decisions in order to ensure we provide capacity where most needed, grow revenue and ultimately reduce public subsidy.

“Regular stakeholder feedback on our timetables has fed into this, alongside passenger counts and close consideration of alternative travel options.