Will the Minister commit to expanding the Heart of Wales timetable to ensure there is a train arriving in Swansea before 9:00am, for citizens who use the line to commute to work and educational settings?
Transport for Wales (TfW) will be including a Llandovery to Swansea service which will arrive in Swansea at 08.08am in their May 2022 timetable change. TfW are continuing to explore solutions and opportunities with industry partners for improvements to services on the Heart of Wales Line, a hugely important part of the network.
There are currently 4 services a day operating on the full length of the line. Prior to the Covid timetable an additional service ran on part of the line from Llandrindod northbound to Shrewsbury, and another additional service ran on part of the line from Llandovery southbound to Swansea. It is not currently possible for TfW to operate these services due to a lack of availability of rolling stock and train crew.
In addition, there are Network Rail maintenance works on the Heart of Wales line between Llandrindod and Craven Arms from Saturday 18 September to Friday 24 September with rail replacement buses replacing trains on this section of the line for this period.