AMPAIGNERS are celebrating after plans for a new Carno railway station took a step closer to reality.

Following the delivery of a petition last week to the National Assembly for Wales, the Cabinet secretary for economy and infrastructure, Ken Skates, has sent a letter to Carno Station Action Group confirming that Carno is now on the list of stations to go forward to Stage Two of the New Stations Assessment Programme.

The petition contains 878 signatures and was presented to the Petitions Committee of the National Assembly for Wales to demonstrate that there is still a huge local demand for the station to be re-opened.

There are 46 stations listed in the new programme, of which 12 were initially chosen to go forward to stage two of the process in May. In mid Wales only one station was on the list of 12, namely Bow Street, near Aberystwyth.

After the news about the Bow Street station, Carno Station Action Group then began an intense campaign, writing to Welsh AMs and in particular to Ken Skates, arguing that as Bow Street was now going ahead, Carno station should replace it as the mid Wales candidate on the list of 12 station to go forward to stage two.

Carno Station Action Group chairman Jeremy Barnes said: “Although this is very welcome news, we are disappointed that it has taken so long for Carno to be included in the list announced in May.

“We are now trying to contact Mr Skates’ department to see how far behind we are in the assessment process and whether that will put Carno at a disadvantage. We have produced a huge amount of documentation over the years, much of which will be useful in moving forward with stage two of the New Assessment Program. We look forward to working with Mr Skates and his department to ensure that Carno station will be re-opened as soon as possible.”

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