THREE of Carmarthenshire’s railway stations rank in the bottom 100 for trains that are on time in the UK according to the latest research.
OnTimeTrains has catalogued the number of trains at each station in the UK, and how many are on time, delayed or cancelled to create a list of the best and worst performing railway stations for passenger disruption.
The railways stations in Ammanford, Llandeilo and Llandovery all rank in the bottom 100, which is thought to be due to the Heart of Wales line’s ongoing work.
Llandeilo railway station ranks in at 2,565th on the list of 2,616 stations. In OnTimeTrains’ statistics, it shows that Llandeilo has ranked in the top 300 stations just once since June – when it reached 222nd place on Sunday, June 18.
As the graph below shows, the early trains on September 5 (which was the most recent figures at the time of writing) were running close to on time, but the cancellations and delays of 10+ minutes throughout the rest of the day had a significant impact on the station’s performance.
Ammanford railway station comes in at 2,558th and has not ranked in the top 600 at any point in the last three months.
As the graph shows, Ammanford’s cancelled train services has hindered its position in the rankings, along with delays of more than 10 minutes.
Llandovery railway station comes in at 2,582nd and has not ranked higher than the top 400 at any point in the last three months.
As the graph shows, Llandovery has a high percentage of trains running on time or close to on time, however, the cancellations, particularly with 27 per cent of trains cancelled in the 10pm-11pm time frame which has a drastic impact on the station’s rating.
The statistics come after complaints have been made about the service on the Heart of Wales line, with many complaints of trains being cancelled and those that are running, running late.
Llandeilo county councillor Edward Thomas said: “I have had a number of people complaining about the fact that the Heart of Wales line has had a lot of work on it and it is stopping the trains turning up.
“I understand that one train was cancelled (at one point) and there was no bus replacement for people. It is getting worse.”
Cllr Thomas said he experienced the cancellations himself in November when he was going to go to a conference and decided to take the train instead of driving, but the service he was due to get there and back were both cancelled.
Llandovery county councillor Handel Davies said: "I have written to both Jonathan Edwards MP and to Adam Price MS as the Heart of Wales line service is the responsibility of the Welsh Government. The HoW line in particular has become increasingly unreliable in recent years and the deteriorating service is doing nothing to encourage greater use of our trains at a time when this should be promoted.
"I also met with Cefin Campbell MS at Llandovery Station yesterday morning to ask him to table a direct question in the Senedd to urgently identify the issues and to implement improvements without delay."
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP Jonathan Edwards spoke last month at his frustration with the Heart of Wales Line over the last year, having written to the Welsh Government in 2022.
He said: “At the time, I was assured by the Welsh Government minister that Transport for Wales had been advised that the issues fall significantly short of the Welsh Governments’ expectations and extra steps would be taken to mitigate such errors in the future.
“Over 12 months have passed and unfortunately my constituents are facing the same problems with more trains being cancelled than ever before.
“I am hearing, first hand, from constituents who have been stranded having to wait over four hours for the next train, job interviews being lost, and holidays being affected. This is without mentioned the effect on the environment and tourism in the area.”
A spokesperson for Transport for Wales said: “Due to engineering work and a number of operational challenges at both TfW and Network Rail, there have been a higher than usual number of service alterations on the Heart of Wales line recently.
“We recognise this is very frustrating for our customers and we apologise for the inconvenience caused.
“We’re working closely with Network Rail to provide passengers with a consistent timetable.”
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