Explore Wales Part 1

Thursday 5th September 2024

Llanwrtyd station in the Heart of Wales

After last month’s three day jaunt enjoying Scotland’s scenic railways with a Spirit of Scotland Travel Pass I spent a couple of days in Wales at the beginning of this week doing the same. My brother had expressed a desire to enjoy the best rail lines in Wales so it would have been rude not to have travelled together. The equivalent Travel Pass in Wales is called an Explore Wales Pass. It costs £149 for any four days in eight consecutive days (Railcard discounts available) and includes rail travel throughout Wales (extending to Cheltenham, Crewe and Hereford) and also includes the TrawsCymru network as shown on the map below.

The Pass isn’t valid before 09:30 on Mondays to Fridays (although there are exceptions to this) but as we were travelling on just two days and could buy tickets cheaper as we went along we didn’t bother with an Explore Wales Pass on this occasion.

The plan was to ride the Heart of Wales, Cambrian Coast, Conwy Valley and most of the North Wales lines. It didn’t quite work out though, but these days I find things often go awry.

We’d secured Advance tickets a few weeks back at the end of June, costing just £28.70 from Haywards Heath (where my brother lives) to Swansea with a Senior Railcard discount. This involved taking the 07:12 Southern train to Victoria and the 08:48 GWR from Paddington to Swansea demonstrating the huge financial benefit of knowing travel plans well in advance,

Had we just needed to travel from Haywards Heath to Paddington on the 07:12, it would have cost £28.40 to Victoria plus £2.80 for the Underground (no Railcard discount for peak travel) giving a higher price of £31.20!

Another oddity was my attempt to book the same journey from my home station of Hassocks (three stops south of Haywards Heath). It wouldn’t let me book on the same Southern train (07:03 from Hassocks) and offered a similar fare but only on the 07:08 Thameslink train via Farringdon and the Elizabeth line to Paddington.

Those oddities aside it was an uneventful journey on the 08:48 from Paddington to Swansea where we had the half coach devoted to first class at the front of the joined together two five-coach trains all to ourselves for the entire journey – we’d upgraded with SeatFrog. This was handy, as despite a five minute late arrival into Swansea at 11:35 (instead of the scheduled 11:30) a quick transfer, from our position at the front of the train, between platforms 3 and 1 saw us on board the 11:38 departure to Shrewsbury on the glorious Heart of Wales line.

We’d originally planned to catch the next departure at 14:18 so that quick connection was an unexpected bonus for day one giving us a much earlier arrival in Shrewsbury and enjoy what that town has to offer.

The Heart of Wales line train begins its four hour (plus another ten or so minutes) journey, literally through the heart of Wales (hence its name), by heading west through Gowerton to Llanelli, where it reverses to then head off in a north easterly direction on the single track line for 90 miles to Craven Arms where it joins the Newport to Shrewsbury/Crewe/Chester line.

It comprised two single Class 153 coaches joined together which, following an internal refresh, belie their 34 years age.

Transport for Wales (TfW) has expanded the Heart of Wales timetable to comprise five return journeys on Mondays to Saturdays supplemented by an additional return in the early morning and evening at the southern end as far north as Llandovery and from the northern end as far south as Llandrindod.

It’s the best timetable I’ve known on the line for many years so it’s very disappointing to hear TfW are cutting it back to four return journeys a day and withdrawing the additional evening journeys to Llandovery and Llandrindod in the upcoming December timetable.

However it was noticeable numbers travelling on Monday were also disappointing. Leaving Llanelli with just 18 on board we lost four and gained two at Ammanford, lost four and gained five at Llandybie, lost six and gained one at Llandeilo with ones and twos on and off at three more stations such by the time we arrived at the roughly half way point at Llanwrtyd at 13:42 for the crew swap with the southbound 13:41 to Swansea we were down to just 11 on board.

A crew change over at Llanwrtyd

However things perked up on part two of the journey arriving into Llandrindod where 19 boarded with about half a dozen more at two or three following stations but there was nothing doing at the six stations by request and more were leaving us than joining at other stations such that on arrival in Shrewsbury, one minute early at 15:44, there were just nine passengers to alight.

Thanks to time allowed at Llanwrtyd for the crew change and some padding in the second half, including no request stopping, we managed to make up the 11 minute delay we’d encountered at the start of the single track section of line just north of Bynea (near Llanelli) due to a late southbound train.

The line passes through some wonderful Welsh scenery and calls at many delightful stations serving small communities. It really is a ‘must ride’ for anyone serious about scenic rail travel in Britain. I’m never disappointed no matter how many times I travel on the line. Here are some photos from the journey.

All the stations along the line are lovely but aside from the least used Sugar Loaf (seen below on a previous jaunt in Arriva Trains Wales days)…

… undoubtedly the best kept station is Dolau.

I assume the residents of the bungalow adjoining the platform look after the floral displays.

They really do a great job.

Another interesting feature of the line is seeing the driver, and sometimes conductor, leave the cab at most stations to get a token from a locked cabinet on the platform for onward travel along the next section of single track.

Sometimes a plunger is pressed to activate a level crossing just beyond the platform. It certainly keeps the crew active.

After an overnight stay in Shrewsbury, Tuesday’s travels began early doors on the 07:27 TfW departure to Machynlleth where after a nine minute connection saw our journey continue along the full length of the wonderful Cambrian coast line to Pwllheli.

Both trains were two coach Class 158s and it’ll be even better when the new Class 197s finally begin running on the line.

Inevitably we came across yet another fare anomaly when buying our tickets. The ticket vending machine at Shrewsbury station wanted to sell us an Anytime Day Single for £18.25 (with Senior Railcard Discount)…

… however, fortuitously we opted to buy our tickets from the Ticket Office, which was just as well, as the helpful clerk on duty having ascertained we were travelling on the next train sold us an Advance ticket for £14.50. Thirty minutes ahead of travel is stretching the definition of “Advance” but who wouldn’t say no to a 20.5% saving just by using a ticket office over a machine?

It’s a shame Southern/Thameslink can’t offer the same deal for peak hour fares bought just before travel from Hassocks! I’d save a fortune.

It’s a nice ride across mid Wales from Shrewsbury to Machynlleth with some great views when line-side trees and vegetation allow.

Our train from Shrewsbury was bound for Aberystwyth but was taken out of service on arrival at Machynlleth at 08:43 with Aberystwyth passengers asked to transfer to the waiting train already on the platform for the 08:48 departure while those of us bound for the line to Pwllheli at 08:52 crossed over the footbridge to platform 1 and caught the onward train from there which had arrived into Machynlleth having come from Pwllheli at 08:43. The conductor was very clear announcing that passengers for Shrewsbury and Birmingham should alight and wait on the platform for the train arriving from Aberystwyth at 09:06 as this was now a train heading back to Pwllheli.

It works much better when trains split and join at Machynlleth.

In between trains I had a quick wander over the road to check out the town’s former Crosville bus garage which for many years now has been the base of Lloyds Coaches.

Back at the station, and on the train, the ride up the Cambrian Coast is a two hour 20 minute coastal delight, but I’ll tell you more about that and why we didn’t get to complete the day as planned in Part 2 on Saturday. For now here’s a photo of the lovely Machynlleth station.

Roger French

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40 thoughts on “Explore Wales Part 1”

  1. Earlier this year I travelled to Bontnewydd near Caernarfon, going via Shrewsbury and the north Wales line to Bangor, making use of the TrawsCymru T2 bus from there. I wasn’t aware of that very useful network before. I chucked away part of my return rail ticket and instead used the T2 southwards for my return journey to Shrewsbury changing to rail at Machynlleth. The bus was busy for the entire route and the scenery was fantastic especially south of Dolgellau. The train journey from Porthmadog south has great scenery too, but it seemed too convenient (and a new experience for me) to just stay on the bus. The only disappointment was the lack of refreshment facilities at Machynlleth – I was gasping for a coffee!

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    1. Have we not been told that ticket machines offer the “whole range of tickets”? I too have noticed that this is far from the truth.

      As with the ticketing situation at Gatwick which you have previously exposed, do we have a (retired?) “lawyer in the house” who can take some action to campaign against these subterfuges and inadequacies?

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      1. I’ve never tried, but I’ve always wondered if a ticket machine would be able to offer PluBus, which I’ve always asked for at a ticket counter.

        Peter Brown

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      2. The TfW machines absolutely don’t offer the full range of tickets, I’ve encountered the same issue as Roger and literally had to stand on the platform next to the TVM buying a ticket on my mobile as a result. I don’t understand how this is legal.

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    2. Not knowing how tight the connection was in Machynlleth, there are plenty of refreshment opportunities by staying on the bus one stop to the town centre.

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      1. Thanks, I’ll know for next time. The connection wasn’t very tight but I did get a coffee on the train.

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  2. I’d make the most of the 158s while you can! On the North Wales Coast line they have already given way to 197s. These do not, I’m afraid, offer an equivalent experience, let alone an improved one. 197s are commuter units, fitted with high-density airline seating. The low provision of table seating means they are not suited to families or groups travelling together, and offer poor window alignment. As such I’d question their use on scenic lines in areas where tourism is important to the local economy.

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    1. I recently had a similar experience on a journey from Nottingham to Bamford on the Hope Valley line. Nottingham to Sheffield on a 158. A really comfortable and intercity style ride. The Northern 195 retraced the route from Sheffield to Dore and Totley. Really quite uncomfortable

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  3. I did a round day trip recently into North Wales.

    I brought a North Wales Rover all zones at £27,70 with disabled railcard, started the trip at Chester, have to say the TFW ticket machines at Chester are useless, & never showed any Ranger/Rover products, had to wait until the ticket window opened at 06.30.

    I caught the 06.47 AWC to Bangor, which was one of the new class 805s, first thoughts, the seats were comfortable, but interior lighting is a bit too bright, & the on board announcements were painfully long, loud & very very intrusive so much so they became really annoying.

    Anyway got to Bangor on time, & walked to the bus station for the 08.30 Trawscymru T2 to Aberystwyth, quite nice long journey at 4 hours, very reliable too only arrived in Aberystwyth a few minutes late, most of the late running occured from Dolgellau, this on a Friday in the middle of summer holidays which wasn’t too bad.

    Had an hour to wait at Aberystwyth, so had a bit of lunch, then the train to Shrewsbury, which arrived in a few minutes late on an incoming service but left Aberystwyth on time, & arrived in Shrewsbury on time.

    Had a few minutes at Shrewsbury for the train to Chester, it was one of the new 197s but it was a 2 car set on a Cardiff-Holyhead service which was completely rammed, i was lucky to spot a vacant seat, 2 car sets on the Marches line on a Friday is very inadequate.

    Going back to Chester i saw no Bidston-Wrexham line services were operating since 10am & no services likely until 6pm, due to a broken down 197 at Hawarden Bridge, then saw Merseyrail was up the swanee as well with delays & cancellations power issues around James Street, a Merseyrail 777 did pull in a around 16.40 few minutes late, & the issue cleared up by the time i got to Hamilton Square & headed home.

    SM

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  4. My only experience of railway travel in Wales is all rather cursory, merely being a quick hop over the border from England to Cardiff and back with return travel to the terminal station at Merthyr Tydfil. This was sometime in the 1970s but I chose MT as the valley line to ride by way of my tribute to honour the dead of Aberfan – a tragedy which created BBC TV OB history. Cliff Michelmore from London was sent down and presented live from the scene. Cliff earned his salary that day with humbling and inspirational words. There was no time for me to visit Aberfan by bus on that occasion but that is why I chose the MT valley line as part of my All-Line Rover that year. It would have been “haulage” crossing the border and first generation DMUs for the valley line trip. My principal Wales tourism was with Mother in the family car in 1965. We rode on the Talyllyn and Ffestiniog lines although then much truncated before substantial line extensions. The Fairbourne line at Barmouth was merely a seaside diesel then with our only other success being at the Great Orme in Llandudno. We found the Welshpool line closed but I did climb up the side of a carriage to look inside. There were no motorways then and at age 11 I was navigator with the maps on my lap. I exercised enormous power: I ensured our first day’s motoring to our first hotel in Shrewsbury went via the hinterland of Walsall so I could watch the trolleybuses. On another trip from our Surrey home, I ensured mother drove through the hinterland of Bournemouth for the same reason. In 1962 I was deprived of treats: no longer seeing London trolleybuses from the family car on motoring trips visiting Kingston upon Thames. I only realised they were gone for good on one of those car trips to Kingston upon Thames. I saw contractors removing the overhead wires and the traction standards. They missed one at the Shannon Corner junction of the A3.

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  5. I wonder why only part of the Traws Cymru network is included in the Explore Wales ticket. Specifically why are the T4 Cardiff-Newtown and T14 Brecon-Hereford, both of which fill gaps in the rail network excluded?

    Jim Davies

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    1. Both T4 and T14 are operated by Stagecoach, so I wonder if Stagecoach weren’t willing to be involved in the scheme? I’d be interested to know what payment (if any) the bus operators get for accepting a rail rover ticket.

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  6. “It didn’t quite work out though, and I find these days things often go awry” is certainly true! The “plan B” often needs backing up now with a “plan C”……and in spite of the political rhetoric, it isn’t going to change in my lifetime.

    The Heart of Wales line whilst lovely, does become a bit “sameified” after the first three hours, and whilst risking the wrath of railway lovers, much more could be seen from a bus or coach. And yes! I do know it would be impossible to serve many of the station locations, but a bus would probably be closer to what population there is. The journey time will only ever attract locals with no other option and railways enthusiasts, but heh! this is Wales, so splashing the cash on railways, whilst starving bus services of equivalent help is ok.

    Terence Uden

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    1. | The Heart of Wales line whilst lovely, does become a bit “sameified”
      | after the first three hours

      I feel the same about the much-loved Settle and Carlisle – it bores me after a while!

      I suspect that the HoW line (Central Wales, pedantically, although the marketing bods changed it to HoW a looong time ago) is one of those lines which only survived Beeching by dint of serving marginal constituencies, as it has no strategic purpose. As with so many other branch lines serving rural constituencies, any attempt to close it now will bring hordes of people out of the woodwork to claim disadvantage and negative impact even though they never use the trains.

      The huge difference between buses and trains is that uneconomic buses can be withdrawn with only local complaint. Withdrawal of uneconomic trains, on the other hand, garners nationwide protest.

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  7. Nice article. Haha, but that’s an old lovely photo of Lloyd’s depot as the petrol station has been massively redeveloped since.

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  8. @Terence Uden – I have seen it suggested that the Heart of Wales Line survived the Beeching cuts as it passed through half a dozen marginal constituencies.

    Whether that reasoning still holds, I know not.

    Malc M

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      1. | Is it a good use of scarce funds ?

        No, but try closing it and see how much protest there is. The population have made it clear over the decades that they want marginal rail services even though it’s not a good use of scarce funds.

        It’s says something about the British people that bucolic branch lines must be funded regardless of ongoing expense but main lines to move millions cannot be built because they’re “a waste of money”.

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    2. That may well be true Malc M, and with most of the line running through Powys (or “Posy” as a retired New Zealand Vet I once travelled with called it!), Voter affiliations are indeed not quite a solidly Labour as in most other parts of Wales. This may possibly still affect current thinking in the Cardiff parliament.

      TU

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  9. Weren’t there supposed to be 153s converted to bicycle carriage as add ons to the single car 153s on the Heart of Wales line?

    This line and the Cambrian Coast line really need marketing properly to visitors. If these lines were in Switzerland there would be better rolling stock (ie not standard commuter trains), and probably premium fare panoramic trains (think Golden Pass, Glacier Express, Bernina Express).

    It’s all rather mediocre, unimaginative, and a little bit sad.

    Peter Brown

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    1. | Weren’t there supposed to be 153s converted to bicycle carriage as add ons
      | to the single car 153s on the Heart of Wales line?

      No, that’s Scotland.

      | If these lines were in Switzerland there would be better rolling stock

      In Swiss terms this is TPC (Aigle-Leysin) type operation, not MOB.

      No, there wouldn’t be better rolling stock and there wouldn’t be any real effort to pull tourists in. Just as there isn’t on the TPC.

      | It’s all rather mediocre, unimaginative, and a little bit sad.

      Ah, so you’ve also travelled on the non-touristy bits of the Swiss system then!

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      2. In Swiss terms this is TPC (Aigle-Leysin) type operation, not MOB.

        No, there wouldn’t be better rolling stock and there wouldn’t be any real effort to pull tourists in. Just as there isn’t on the TPC.

        The Aigle -Leysin with an hourly service until c2300.

        Lovely line

        Peter Brown

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  10. My wife and I are regular travellers on the Heart of Wales Line from Orpington to Bucknell where we have a second home. Although we have a car our preferred method of travel is by train. We have noticed that over the last few years the numbers of passengers have decreased substantially, which I believe is due to the unreliability of the service, much (but not all) attributable to TfW eg shortage of staff, train faults, more trains that usual needing repair. If a service is cancelled in South Eastern/southern territory it is usually only a matter of minutes until the next one. On the heart of wales line it can be 4 hours. Until TfW address these problems then passenger numbers will continue to fall, hence the unwelcome reduction in the number of trains in December. One gets the impression that TfW has no need to improve the service or promote the line as the company is state owned by the Welsh Government with little or no financial incentive. The only consolation prize is that we have had lots of money back for delayed/cancelled trains, but this is no substitute for the trains running to schedule.

    Brian Willson

    Orpington and Bucknell

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    1. | One gets the impression that TfW has no need to improve the service or
      | promote the line as the company is state owned by the Welsh Government
      | with little or no financial incentive. 

      I don’t recall there being much promotion or service improvement under the private Wales & Borders either!

      It’s just another bit of the forgotten railway, I’m afraid. It’s far from the only such line and it should be a salutary lesson to those who fantasise that “railway = Southern Electric” of what rural railways really are across much of the world, not just the UK.

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  11. Several points; as anon at 4.07pm has commented, the line has been though a recent period of appalling reliability which must have had an impact on passenger numbers- on my last trips 10-12 years ago they were much more healthy. A train cancelleation with 4 hours to wait for the next one is no joke.

    Lloyds main depot is at Felingerrig, a mile or so up the road- the local fleet is now much too big to be accommodated at the old Crosville garage.

    The ‘marginal constituencies’ story is often quoted as a reason for the line’s survival, but it didn’t save others in a similar position in the Beeching era. The fact is that the line crosses territory where the road network is (even today)poor and replacement bus services would be very difficult to provide- t

    (the bus route from Knighton to Llandrindod, for instance, had been abandoned even before the closure proposal was published) with remotely acceptable journey times.

    On my first journey on the CWL back in 1970 we didn’t stop at Llanbister Road at which point an old guy protested loudly as he had asked for the request stop. Much buzzing from the guard brought the train to a halt. ‘Sorry, Dai, I fogot this one!’. The driver just backed the train up 200 yards or so and let him off. I can’t see that happening today. In those days one enjoyed the luxury of the splendid Swindon Cross-Country units rather then the somewhat spartan 153s.

    Phil Drake

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  12. Six years ago I spent four days travelling on the Arriva Trains Wales network whilst one of my sons completed his gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition in Snowdonia. I was massively impressed with every train on time, clean and with mainly excellent staff.

    There was though one rather unpleasant experience on the Central Wales Line. Two twentyish year old men were on the train from Shrewsbury with their mother. They had clearly already had a fair bit to drink and continued drinking on the train getting louder and louder. Even their mother moved away from them as far as the layout of a single class 153 allowed.

    At Builth Road the train was joined by a refreshment trolley including alcohol. After consultation with the conductor the host sold them all the cans which she had on the trolley with the predictable result that the journey became increasingly unpleasant until they got off at Ammanford. Surely depositing them at Sugar Loaf would have been a much better course of action.

    Last year I again spent four days travelling broadly the same lines across Wales. The contrast with the previous visit was stark. I had read that nationalisation hadn’t been the panacea which so many commentators promise (and as we’re now finding out in Scotland) but despite what I’d read didn’t realise things had got quite so bad. Ignoring cancellations and a train starting short at Newport instead of Cardiff the average delay was around 50 minutes.

    Only one train, a Milford Haven service which I used from Cardiff to Swansea was on time. The curious thing on this service was that just after Bridgend the conductor came in and asked if everyone had tickets. Myself and a lady who had also boarded at Cardiff got our tickets out. No one who had boarded at Bridgend looked as if they were going to. “Apologies, but I do have to ask” said the conductor as he turned and left without checking or issuing a single ticket.

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  13. The Central Wales line is a wonderful line, partly because of the places it passes through. If I am on Shrewsbury station and one of these trains is being announced I have to stop and listen to that wonderful litany of Welsh place names! There is now a way-marked walking route between stations, the Heart of Wales Line trail. In recent years I have used every request stop between Craven Arms and Llandovery except Broome and Sugar Loaf. Once sitting waiting on Dolau station the public address kept warning me every 10 minutes that there was no tactile edge on the platform edge! On another occasion waiting at Cynghordy I was repeatedly warned not to leave my luggage unattended. Yes, in 2023 there was an appalling level of cancellations, after two 100% refunds I gave up using the line for fear of getting stranded. Nobody used to have a good word for Arriva Trains Wales but on one occasion when we were running very late, a fellow passenger was saying how bad the service had become since it was nationalized and how much better it had been under privatization. The refurbished 153 (‘dog-boxes’) have recorded announcements (English only) which ignore the request stops which is very confusing for people when a request stop they have asked for is not announced and for people who are travelling to the next compulsory stop when the train stops at a request stop; I have known people nearly getting off at Hopton Heath when they wanted Craven Arms. The line was in fact down for closure before Beeching and it is my understanding that it survived because of the difficulty of providing alternative road services. It was of course a London & North Western Railway route penetrating deep into Great Western territory; under British Railways it was transferred to the Western Region and some say the closure proposal was the GWR getting its revenge on this interloper! But I agree, the economics of the route do not bear thinking about, but while it is there, enjoy it. The reversion to four trains a day is definitely a retrograde step, particularly because in future they will all cross at Llandrindod making it more restricted for day trips, e.g. walking the Heart of Wales Line Trail.

    A. Henthorn Stott

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    1. I noticed the same problem with request stops not being announced on the on-board system on journeys earlier this year between Carmarthen and Narberth and Narberth and Pembroke. I dont understand why the system can’t cope with request stops.

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  14. The fundamental problem is that TfW is a very badly run organisation. Just a looking at the area around Machynlleth which I visit frequently:
    1) Money wasted on bus stops outside Bow Street station which the TfW funded T2/T28 don’t serve as they now stop on the main road.
    2) TVMs which don’t offer the full range of tickets.
    3) New rolling stock which is unfit for purpose (lacking table seating, 1/3 + 2/3 doors, masses of space wasted for the unused catering storage area).
    4) The previously reliable local X28 bus service trashed by it’s merger with the T2, which also lacks capacity since double deckers needed for schools demand have been replaced by single deckers.
    I also have the misfortune to use the Newport to Leominister line frequently and despite huge “investment” the actual service is worse than it was for much of ATWs time in charge. The only upside is that its a lot cheaper than it used to be since delay-replay normally covers a chunk of the fare.

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    1. There’s a good article in August Buses Magazine by Rhodri Clark questioning the value for money of electrifying Traws Cymru in terms of improving air quality vs electrifying urban buses.

      Peter Brown

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      1. Oh yeah, a decision that operationally, logistically and scientifically idiotic. Operationally because they can’t complete a full shift so the PVR went from 5 to 8. Logistically because using electric buses on Traws Cymru means converting large numbers of small depots to electric rather than one or two big depots. Scientifically because if you want to impact air quality you need to focus electric buses on urban areas.

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  15. I made a day return journey from Shrewsbury on the Heart of Wales line in January this year. The return journey was with a single car class 153, which was lightly loaded, At Sugar Loaf, passengers signalled the approaching train to stop but we over-ran the platform. The driver moved to the back cab and reversed back to the platform before returning to the front to continue to Shrewsbury.

    On a round trip to Pwllheli in the same month, two passengers boarded for the journey to Shrewsbury but were politely advised by the driver that the guard had reported for duty but was now unable to work. The driver had instructions to lock the train and advised us that the short notice nature of the situation meant that replacement road transport could not be organised, We returned to weatherspoons for another coffee and caught the next train two hours later, largely in darkness, which defeated the purpose of this sightseeing journey. TFW provided a 100% refund of my day return ticket, despite attempting to claim that the ticket wasn’t valid!

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      1. Guards will also be on the new Tram Trains in the Valleys. Not sure many countries have guards on trams. No wonder why TfW have no money

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  16. so a couple of weeks ago I visited South East Wales, entirely by rail. It not only worked really well, I enjoyed tiny journeys like Cardiff Central to Penarth, and Cardiff Bay to Queen Street. Shows that heavy rail can do short journeys effectively

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