Concerns over the latest delay to an ‘essential’ new hourly Cambrian Line service have been raised in the Senedd.

Welsh Liberal Democrat MS for Mid & West Wales, Jane Dodds, challenged Labour’s Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters over the much-anticipated plans being put back to 2024.

Ms Dodds said the delays to the hourly service between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury is another sign of central Wales being forgotten about by the ‘Labour-Plaid Cymru partnership’ in Cardiff Bay.

The upgraded service was announced in 2014 but has faced repeated delays since.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats stated that an hourly service stopping at all stations along the Cambrian Line is ‘essential to encourage more passengers to use the railway instead of cars’.

The party says it will also boost businesses given it will play an important role in making connections from Shrewsbury easier.

It has called on the Welsh Government to prioritise the introduction of the service and tackle delays head-on.

Ms Dodds said: “We really need the Labour-Plaid Cymru partnership in Cardiff Bay to prioritise this route, it is essential for businesses and the public in Mid Wales.

“The fact it has been continuously delayed for almost a decade shows that once again Mid Wales is being forgotten about by Labour.

“With Transport for Wales (TfW) now fully nationalised and owned by the Welsh Government, there is no excuse.

“If Labour wants to put a ban on all new roadbuilding the least, they can do is ensure we have well-functioning public transport networks.

“I am calling for the Welsh Government to prioritise the rollout of this service and put an end to repeated delays once and for all.”

In the Senedd, she said: “It is a wonderful railway route - it is like travelling through Italy - but it just doesn’t have enough trains to go on it.

“When I lived in Welshpool and would travel to work, if I missed the 6.30am, there wasn’t another one until 9am.

“We’re not asking for a lot; we’re just asking for an hourly train service along the Cambrian Line.”

Mr Walters responded by saying: “There are particular challenges on that line because we are only able to use one of the trains.

“So, when there are problems with the carriages, it makes it very difficult to provide an alternative.

“As we cascade our new fleet of trains across the network, there will be improvements I think for 95 per cent of passengers and journeys which will be a significant step ahead.

“The railways are a challenge for us. They are an expensive form of public transport and carry comparatively few passengers.

“And we face the judgement of investment in buses and in active travel to try and reach our modal shift targets.

“And obviously with inflation the cost of our rail projects is also significant – and delays are being felt throughout the industry.

“Progress is slow. Everything takes for every it feels like sometimes.

“We are expecting to do far more which will be even more difficult now with the cuts we are expecting from the UK government.

“We are set to be £3bn worse off.”

A Transport for Wales spokesperson said: “Transport for Wales is transforming the Wales and Borders network and investing £800 million into new brand new trains that have started to be introduced to our network.

“On the Cambrian line, our brand new CAF Class 197 trains will be used and will enable us to substantially increase capacity by running more frequent trains from 2024.

We will also run four-car trains (two units of two cars) on a more frequent basis, including on all peak-time services and six-car trains on the busiest services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham. During busy summer Sundays, we will increase the number of services to Pwllheli to nine trains per day.

“These trains will also have more bicycle spaces, allow easier access to/from the train and provide an overall improvement to the customer experience. In response to customer feedback about our current fleet, we’ve ensured the Class 197 units feature a state-of-the-art air conditioning system.

“These new trains use different signalling systems and therefore we need to carry out specific work on the Cambrian Line to accommodate them.  The pandemic has had an impact on our original timescales but we’re progressing at pace.”