Thousands have signed a petition for a ‘much-needed' Aberystwyth to Carmarthen railway line despite claims it could still be 40 years away.  

An online petition has been launched on the Senedd website calling for future rail infrastructure to enable travel from Bangor to Cardiff through the Cambrian Mountains to avoid a detour into England.  

The petition started last week by Gwynedd councillor for Blaenau Ffestiniog, Elfed Wyn Ap Elwyn, has already reached 6,600 signatures and is continuing to gain traction. 

As the Cambrian News reported, Ceredigion councillors were told last week there was ‘no chance at all’ that the line - which was axed in 1965 - connecting Aberystwyth and Carmarthen will be reopening in the next 40 years. 

But yesterday members of Ceredigion County Council heard at a meeting the highest number of signatures on the petition were from the region.

Chairman of campaign group Traws Link Cymru, Mike Walker, said reopening the line - 97 per cent of which remains untouched - would connect the whole of Wales and boost Ceredigion’s economy. He also criticised the latest rebuff as yet more proof south Wales is the priority for those in the Senedd. 

The new petition specifically asks for a feasibility study for a railway line from Bangor to the disused Afon Wen station in Gwynedd. It also demands a commitment to spend any funding for the railways from Westminster on reinstating the railway lines – while it also calls for a blueprint to be developed for the Bangor to Cardiff route, and assessment of other poorly served areas of Wales. 

Councillor Wyn Ap Elwyn said: “Travelling between the north and the south of Wales is always a long journey, especially when using the railway.  

“If a person is traveling between Bangor and Cardiff, one must go outside of Wales on rail to be able to complete the journey. 

“Wales needs to be connected internally by rail. The plan to do this would be to reopen the Bangor to Afon Wen and Aberystwyth to Carmarthen lines, and integrate them with the Cambrian railway, and the line from Carmarthen on to Cardiff. 

“If we are looking to develop the infrastructure in Wales, and to use greener methods of travel, reinstating and reopening this railway would be a step in the right direction - and would be beneficial for all the communities situated along the railway, as well as for Wales as a nation.” 

If the petition gets more than 10,000 signatures it will be considered for a debate in the Senedd. 

Almost 750 residents of the Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency signed the petition along with 870 from Ceredigion.  

Reopening the line has long been demanded by Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats in Ceredigion while Traws Link Cymru has been campaigning for the reintroduction of railway lines across Wales. 

The Aberystwyth to Carmarthenshire line originally closed due to the Beeching cuts in February 1965.  

Multiple studies have predicted the costs for reopening it are as high as £800million. 

A 2020 Traws Link Cymru report found no major obstacles to reopening especially as 97 per cent of the original trackbed was clear.