Evidence from Margaret Smallbone – WBF 20

As stated in last week’s Cambrian News by Mark Williams mid Wales certainly does not have a proper rail service for this century. For several years we endured problems with the signalling, constant delays, missed connections, always with the promise of an improved service (hourly at the very least). Now this promise seems to be receding into the future.

Considering that this town is a University town with large numbers of students on the move and has pretensions to be a holiday resort too, the poor service offered is an insult. It takes 3 hours to reach Birmingham from here, then only about 1 hour 20 minutes to reach London. Every journey has to start on this route.

What a joke that it would take hours to reach the capital of Wales by the rail network. Is there ever going to be a better option that going to Shrewsbury, miles out of the way and changing. The only viable way to get to Cardiff, especially for a day visit, is to drive.

It is high time that radical improvements were put in place with the utmost urgency.

Margaret Smallbone