A Hart bypass won’t solve travel problems

I RICHARD (Western Mail letters, February 12) makes a good point re the cost of HS2 at £53bn that benefits few people. Since the Beeching Cuts in 1963, Wales has suffered a disjointed rail service. Should anyone like to travel by rail from Carmarthen to Bangor, you will need to go through England; it will cost £93.40 and take about six and a half hours and a change of trains once.

A rail journey from Aberystwyth to Bangor is just as ridiculous. Leaving Aberystwyth, you will travel to Shrewsbury, change trains and, if you’re lucky with your timing, straight on to Bangor. Unlucky, and you will need to change at Chester as well and, of course, both have a long wait for a connection. The cost of the trip is £57.50 and takes around four and half hours.

Currently the Welsh Government is considering the M4 relief road, as proposed by Edwina Hart in 2015. The cost would be over £1.3bn and would cause catastrophic, environmental damage to a beautiful natural habitat, the Gwent Levels. It would cut the journey time from the Severn Bridge to Cardiff by 10 minutes. The cost of the Carmarthen to Aberystwyth line is estimated at a lot less than £1bn and, depending on the route, from Aberystwyth to Bangor, let’s say £1.5bn.

We have a choice in Wales – an arduous expedition going the long way round from north to south and vice versa, that costs a fortune. Or a much shorter rail jaunt that would take the same time as going from Aberystwyth to Bangor.

But Wales will get a Hart bypass. Swansea has had some good railway news. A new Parkway Station costing £20m has been announced by Alun Cairns. Mrs May told him that lots of Lords and Ladies would be stopping there. Alun likes Lords, he hopes to become one soon. Mrs May forgot to tell him that they would be Drug Lords, on the way to a proposed prison nearby.

So yes, I Richard, Wales deserves a reliable bus and rail service if we are to become more prosperous.

Rob Lowe Pen-clawdd, Abertawe