Celebrating 5 years of the Heart of Wales Line Trail

Members of the local community at Cynghordy near Llandovery came together earlier this month to celebrate the unveiling of a blue plaque at the iconic Cynghordy viaduct, which forms part of the acclaimed Heart of Wales railway line. The plaque was funded by Llanfair-ar-y-Bryn community council, and unveiled at the event by Cefin Campbell MS, Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd for Mid & West Wales. The unveiling was chaired by Handel Davies, County Councillor for Llandovery with fellow members of Llanfair-ar-y-bryn community council as well as representatives from Network Rail and Heart of Wales Line Development Company also present.

So much for me writing monthly missives detailing what I have been up to in my role as Community Rail Officer. This is my first one since the end of January as it has been a very busy period over the last few months. This has been due to two projects that were finishing off, and also some end of financial year reporting to enable us gain accreditation from the Community Rail Network. I am pleased to announce we passed the accreditation process, with some very positive comments on our future plans from Transport for Wales, Community Rail Network, Network Rail and Avanti West Coast, who provide our funding. February started with 3 meetings in 3 days in Llanwrtyd Wells, Llanelli and Shrewsbury to promote the opportunity to join the Community Rail Partnership. These were very well attended and there was a lot of enthusiasm from the communities we met to engage with the railway positively on future projects. There were lots of ideas coming out at the meetings and we will have a strong partnership meeting for the first time at the end of April, with representation from all over the geographical area of the line, and from many different sectors.

Transport For Wales have announced changes for the new train timetables that will come into force in December 2024. Amongst the proposed changes are adjustments to the Heart of Wales Line service. This includes a reduction from 5 to 4 services a day from Monday to Saturday, there will be no change to the Sunday service . There is also a planned removal of the shorter evening services from Shrewsbury to Llandrindod and from Swansea to Llandovery. The timings have also changed and the trains will pass at Llandrindod Wells railway station to allow for a better passenger service. If you would like to have a say in these changes please fill in the feedback form before May 13th . Click the link below. HAVE YOUR SAY on the TfW Future Timetable Review

Online meeting to find out more about the Community Rail Partnership and how you can get involved.

We're back with another series of Walking Connections taking place in the county of Shropshire throughout March 2024.

I ddathlu Dydd Miwsig Cymru rydym wedi gofyn i 5 person sydd ag angerdd am Gerddoriaeth Gymreig restru 3 cân Gymraeg yr hoffent eu rhannu gyda ni. To celebrate Welsh Language Music Day we have asked 5 people with a passion for Welsh Music to list 3 Welsh language songs that they wanted to share with us.

Owen Griffkin, Community Rail Officer for the Heart of Wales Line Community Rail Partnership, details his community engagement activities throughout January 2024.