Madam,

In December 2015, the Welsh Government published a Scoping Report on the feasibility of reopening the Carmarthen to Aberystwyth railway line.

It predicted a cost of £750m, but ignored major costs it couldn’t predict such as tunnelling under Pen Dinas. The report showed the immense problems of getting the railway out of Aberystwyth (much of the track has been built on) and out beyond Llanfarian (where the line fell into the river in the 1960s, prompting closure).

I wish the line were still open, but it isn’t, and the costs massively outweigh any benefits.

The line was uneconomical in a time before mass car ownership, and pensioners can travel for free by bus along the old route.

So the decision by Plaid Cyrmu last year to push for a more detailed report costing £300,000 was a puzzle to me and, now the report has dropped, it merely shows in more detail how the plan is unworkable.

Does anyone really imagine a tunnel being dug under Southgate?

This hasn’t stopped many enthusiasts hailing the report as a sign the project should begin. They’re decent people, but pushing for a project this unlikely doesn’t help anyone.

Similarly, Plaid representatives - though understandably committed to improving the infrastructure in the area - should stop pretending that this scheme has any legs.

The amount of attention it receives is disproportionate to value.

Imagine the value of a bypass from, say, Lovesgrove to Rhydyfelin to the traffic in Aberystwyth, yet such a scheme is never discussed.

The waste of £300,000 on this report should be a matter of scandal and interest when we look at the real cuts to services in the area.

I hope it is the last money wasted this way.

Yours etc,

Tony Jones, Clos y Dderwen, Blaenplwyf, Aberystwyth.

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