Llanbedr and Tywyn with Chair of the Cambrian Railway Partnership

A blog from Neil Scott, Chair of the Cambrian Railway Partnership.

Yesterday I headed up the Cambrian Coast to spend the day with the Cambrian Railway Partnership Development Officer, Deb Justice, visiting two local community groups to discuss how we can work together and what support we can offer them.

We travelled up to the beautiful village of Llanbedr, between Barmouth and Harlech, to meet two local Community Councillors, Robin and Morfudd, to discuss Transport for Wales’ & Network Rail Wales & Western region/Network Rail Wales and Borders plans to overhaul the station and provide a new station shelter. Llanbedr is one of those typical Cambrian Coast halts built by the GWR in the 1920s to generate additional local traffic and has a platform long enough for one coach to stop at and a simple platform built on stilts above the marsh ground. Last year around 9000 entry/exits were recorded which was more than I had expected for such a small halt.

 Morfudd explained how Llanbedr station used to be called Talwrn Bach, named after the farm at the level crossing, and how the community would like to see this name recognised on station signage. We discussed how we could support with this and the general station refurbishment and assisting with the developing interpretation panels at the station outlining its history. We then retired to the village for a cup of team and delicious cake – the village is well worth visiting in its own right.

We then headed down to Tywyn to visit the local community fridge – Frijj Tywyn – based in the old station building. The ffrij takes surplus food from local supermarkets and redistributes through the community. Eileen explained a few issues with building maintenance that we could assist with helping and was pleased to see us taking an interest in this local initiative.

 Deb has made great strides in the last few months in connecting the Cambrian Railway Partnership with our local community groups associated with the railway and it’s rewarding to see us being able to go out into the community and offer support and help for these projects.

Thinking back to our visit to Llanbedr, while we were waiting for our train to Tywyn I asked Morfudd why she was interested in the station and what it meant to her. With a slight change in her voice, she explained how much it meant to the local community in terms of its heritage and to her it symbolised an important part of her life – she took the train to secondary school in Harlech each day, made shopping trips with her sister to Pwllheli every Saturday and allowed for journeys to Shrewsbury and beyond.

Social value is a real thing, even if it’s hard to measure. The industry is moving into a time where hard numbers might dictate who gets a decent train service. Railway economics are a difficult balancing act between real money and social value.