Madam,

I learn from the Cambrian News (‘Aberystwyth to Carmarthen rail link would cost £775m’) that the feasibility study into reinstating the Carmarthen to Aberystwyth railway has finally been published.

It can be accessed here.

Lon Tyllwyd, Llanfarian is a beautiful and peaceful lane - a good place to live and retire. I have lived here since 1994. Now, many of our properties appear to be seriously threatened by the possible reinstating of the Aberystwyth to Carmarthen railway.

The proposed route goes right through the gardens of those of us living on the north side of Lon Tyllwyd, with the actual rail track just a few yards from our houses.

The 2015 Scoping Report suggested three route options for Llanfarian, only one of which involved running the railway through our gardens.

I wrote a letter, published in the Cambrian News in February 2016, appealing to the planners to choose a route away from our houses so that our properties would not be ‘blighted’. This now appears to have been ignored.

Even if the railway is never built, those of us living in Lon Tyllwyd, particularly on the north side, have already probably taken a serious hit.

Would you want to buy a house with even the chance of a railway being built through the garden a few yards from the house? Regardless of whether or not this railway is ever rebuilt, realistically it would now be extremely difficult for us to sell up or move.

I have never opposed reopening this railway in principle, but the study appears to confirm that this scheme would involve huge financial losses.

Reading p183 of the study, it seems that even in the ‘best case’ scenario there would be a ‘benefits gap’, (or should we say ‘loss’ in plain language?) of an eye-watering £442m - 57 per cent of the £775m investment. This is ‘best case’ of course, and the actual deficit could be a lot more.

It also seems worth asking here what else could be done with a vast sum like £442m in west Wales? Looking through other headlines in the same Cambrian News Aberystwyth edition of 25 October, perhaps gives us some pointers - ‘Anger at lifeboat decision’; ‘£1m overspend as board steps in to run surgeries’; ‘Cuts have ‘huge impact on joint working’; ‘Day centres are not a luxury; no more cuts!’; ‘Mid Wales the poor relation yet again’; ‘Cuts for Ceredigion and Powys’; ‘Warning of continued harsh cuts to services’, etc. Is it not a complete no-brainer that huge sums of money like this, if available, could be better spent elsewhere?

Once again, I appeal to ‘the powers-that-be’ to urgently redraw these plans so the proposed railway line would be kept well away from people’s houses along the whole route.

If this is not possible, the social as well as the economic price of reinstating this railway is just too high.

Yours etc,

Glyn Ivens, Lon Tyllwyd, Llanfarian.

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