One of the things I've been doing while I've had a break from blogging is to look in a little more detail at options for various North-South rail routes. I hope to publish an analysis in the next week or so.
But I got distracted and started to experiment with a video presentation. This is the result: a flythrough of a journey between Swansea and Llandudno.
The video is just under 20 minutes long. If you click the bottom right hand button you can see it in full screen, but I've had to downgrade the quality slightly so that it still streams. Use the time slider to focus on any part of the route:
Carmarthen ... 3:40
Llanbedr Pont Steffan ... 6:30
Aberystwyth ... 9:40
Harlech ... 14:20
Blaenau Ffestiniog ... 16:00
The new sections are from Carmarthen to Aberystwyth, and from the Cambrian line near Llandecwyn to Blaenau Ffestiniog. The first is mainly along the line of the old railway, but with some improvements (the old route is shown paler) and the second was mentioned in more detail here.
4 comments:
Excellent - though I'm not sure if the budget would be found for the bridges and tunnels to be built.
In the end it's a question of priorities. So far millions upon millions have been wasted on Community First when a real tangible infrastructure project like this which would help commuters, industry and tourism has been left to hang.
Thanks! It's one of my dreams to see a proper rail network within Wales. There would be a huge mutual benefit from linking Aberystwyth (the town I know best on the route) with the rest of Wales. If we had had the leadership, confidence and vision, this would have been a obvious use for the Objective One (don't know whether the rules of Obj. One allowed it). Now as David Jones says above, it will be a question of priorities. I fear that the subset of the voters in West Wales north and south who are not petrol heads will be too low, but I hope I'm wrong and that we can keep rail on the agenda.
"Efrogwr", Abertawe
Great Post! Whether the route via West Wales would be thought of as a better alternative to the route through Mid Wales is to be seen.
A government with a vision for the future of the Welsh nation will seriously consider this kind of route. Not only does it connect the North and South but it will also help regenerate the communities that lie along the line and will give those who don't have the option of driving an opportunity to continue living in their home town or village while having the freedom to travel further to work.
Thank you for such positive comments.
I think there are sufficient signs in what IWJ has said recently that we are going to take steps towards a North-South rail link, so it becomes a question of which is the best way to go about it.
I have looked in some detail at the alternative proposal through mid Wales by Tad Deiniol, and I think it has considerable merit. Eventually I am sure we will have both — and more — but with limited resources we have to go about it a step at a time.
The same holds true for things like tunnels and bridges. Some are absolutely necessary, but others are desirable rather than necessary at the outset. It would certainly be possible, and sometimes better, to add these in later.
I have attempted to address these issues in the analysis I mentioned, and you should see the results of that soon.
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