It would be nice to see the former stations along the line reopen too.
Of the closed stations on the line (at least 4, plus probablly one or two I've forgoten) only 2 would be worth opening. These are Fishguard & Goodwick (where all trains not connecting with a ferry would terminate) and Wolfscastle (where the nearby 412 bus stop would provide passengers from Letterston, and possibly Trecwn and Scleddau). However the track would need to be moved to re-open Wolfscastle, so I think we'll have to settle for Fishguard & Goodwick for the time being.
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No news on the X50(550) (Cardigan - (Aberporth) - (New Quay) - Aberaeron - Aberystwyth) TrawsCambria services? I guess they are staying as they are. I guess that's a good thing, as I don't like the look of the bus they're sitting in there (it has seat belts, I do not like being forced by the law to wear a seat belt on a bus). Notice no East-West link (I included an Aberaeron - Brecon - Abergavenny service as one of the suggestions in my consultation responce) and no apparent end to the wasteful X40 services south of Carmarthen (why do they even exist, there's a perfectly good railway from Carmarthen to Cardiff via Swansea). Also, new buses for the X40 and 704??? Surely, as the X40 and 704 alread has 55 and 06 plate Optare Tempos the X32 (Aberystwth - Bangor) and X94 (Barmouth - Wrexham) are higher priority for new vehicles (ok, I guess extending the 704 will require some extra vehicles). I suppose the new vehicles on X40 (which I think is hourly anyway) could cascade the present Tempos onto the X94 and/or X32. I also hope they bring the legroom on the Tempo fleet up to X50 standard.
The combined Fishguard/TrawsCambria anouncement is a little disapointing. It is in my opinion a waste of a good oppertunity to make a real difference. The service, I expect, is the single 153 shuttling back and forth to Carmarthen idea, which pretty much limits the passengers you could attract to those traveling from Fishguard/Goodwick (and, at a push, on the 413 (Fishguard - St Davids) route) to Carmarthen, and (with a change) stations between there and Swansea. The bright side is that it only uses 1 additional unit and does not use any 158s, which should help ensure the WAG is able to make good on their broken promise to make the Cambrian main line hourly. I write the following assuming that the Cambrian had gone hourly by 2011 as promised, as that is a very important scheme.
I would, and have, suggest that the X50 service be made clockface and extended south to St Davids every 2 hours. That would enhance the quality of the St Davids - Fishguard service and make it clockface (currently very vaugly 2-hourly). It would also provide a connection at Fishguard & Goodwick with the 2-hourly Fishguard train service, meaning everywhere between Cardigan and Fishguard on the current 412 route would get a direct link to the train station (without the extended X50 you would have to change from the 412 Cardigan - Haverfordwest bus onto the Fishguard Town Service to reach the station). That would mean Cardigan, instead of being over a hour away by bus from a viable train station would only be 46mins away from one (Haverfordwest (1hr 10mins, at the best of times), Aberystwyth (1hr 30mins) and Carmarthen (1hr 40somthing) are the main options at present).
The above suggestions have widened the catchment area for the service, but not addressed the limited choice of destonations. To do that I would extend the 2-hourly Fishguard to Cardiff via the Swansea District line, calling only at Whitland, Carmarthen and Llanelli as the present FGH service does. Connections would need to be made with the Pembroke Dock - Swansea stoppers in both directions. This would open up Cardiff as a pontential destonation, and, more importantly, cut the shortest available Carmarthen - Cardiff journey times. I fear the half-hearted proposals for a shuttle to Carmarthen would not attract enough passengers for the service to last beyond the planned review, however a direct service to Cardiff and good connections from the rest of north Pembrokeshire could be a different story. The question is, would a single 153 handle the loadings between Carmarthen and Cardiff, thanks to the 15min time saving? I've been working to the assumption that it wouldn't and suggest the service use 158s (gained from Scotrail's electrification pland or by swaping the 4-car sets on Holyhead - Birmingham with push-pull mark2 LHCS). Using 158s would, I think, allow you to add a stop at Bridgend and still save the 15mins (because bits of the line between Briton Ferry and Cardiff are faster than the 75mph limit of a 153, and a 158 can take advantage of that). I think I worked out you'd need 3 158s to do that. I wonder if you run a pair of 153s between Carmarthen and Cardiff, but only one west of Carmarthen, could you save on units? I doubt it but you'd probablly save on coaches.
Before anyone complains about missing Swansea, you would need to change to get there from the proposed shuttle anyway, so it is no real loss, and my plan gives a fast direct service to Cardiff (where the majority of connections to England can be found).
that will shut them up.
