Government rail lines used to transport coal from controversial mine
COAL from a controversial opencast mine is still being transported along Welsh Government rail tracks months after it was due to close, it has been reported.
Ffos-y-Fran opencast mining site in Merthyr Tydfil was ordered to close in April after 15 years.
It was originally meant to close last September, when its planning permission first expired, but more than 200,000 tonnes of coal have since been extracted.
Ffos-y-Fran produces two-thirds of the UK’s coal and its closure has been a controversial issue.
Research by ITV News Wales has discovered that the railway track used to take the coal from near where it’s extracted belongs to the Welsh Government body Transport for Wales (TfW).
Campaigners and politicians told ITV News Wales how they are calling for the government to step in to prevent the line being used.
The Welsh Government said it was unable to comment because doing so may jeopardise any future decisions it has to make.
ITV News Wales said it had approached Merthyr (South Wales), which runs the mine, for comment.
Most of the coal mined at Ffos-yfran is removed by rail before it is separated and washed at the mine’s washing facility at Cwmbargoed.
It then leaves the site and is switched onto the Cwmbargoed branch, which is the only freight-only line in use on the Core Valley Lines.
While most rail lines in Wales are controlled by Network Rail, the Core Valley Lines are now the responsibility of ministers in Cardiff Bay after the infrastructure was transferred in 2020 to TfW, which is wholly owned by the Welsh Government.
The track is operated by Amey Infrastructure Ltd on behalf of TfW.
Amey is bound both by a contract it has with Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd and a general requirement to grant access to freight operators.
Once the coal leaves private land, it travels to Queen Street station in Cardiff, where it joins the Network Rail line. This means the train company is essentially just fulfilling its contract.
Plaid Cymru MS, Llyr Gruffydd told ITV News Wales he is sure some people will feel the Welsh Government is effectively “facilitating” the continued extraction of coal from Ffos-y-Fran.