Here we go again.
RCT Council Leader Ann Crimmings has been down to Aberdare station, stood in front of a camera, and talked about extending passenger rail services from Aberdare through Trecynon to Hirwaun and Rhigos. Transport for Wales will be launching a public consultation soon. The council urges residents to have their say.
Stop us if you’ve heard this before.
On AberdareOnline we have a name for this. We call it the Election Special. It appears like clockwork — before council elections, Senedd elections, Westminster elections. A politician turns up at Aberdare station, talks about the railway, gets filmed, and disappears. Then nothing happens until the next election cycle and the whole pantomime starts again.
Don’t take our word for it. Here’s the evidence:
2011 — Network Rail produces a full feasibility study for the Welsh Assembly Government. Cost to extend to Hirwaun: £16.7 million to £19.3 million. The scheme appears in the Assembly’s capital programme. Then quietly vanishes. The line stays closed.
2015 — Cynon Valley AM Christine Chapman is still raising it in the Senedd. The First Minister says the Minister is “scrutinising findings.” Four years after the feasibility study, nothing has moved. The line stays closed.
2021 — Election year again. RCT Council announces it has bought the old Mayhew Chicken Factory site in Trecynon for a potential station halt. Big announcement. Press release. Quotes from the council leader. The line stays closed.
2025 — Council leader at Aberdare station. Video. Consultation coming. Watch this space.
Meanwhile, the cost of the wider South Wales Metro — under which this extension sits — has ballooned from £750 million to over £1 billion. A third over budget. And still no train to Hirwaun.
Here is what fifteen years of promises, studies, consultations, land acquisitions and station visits has produced for the people of Hirwaun, Rhigos and Trecynon: absolutely nothing. They still have no train. They still have poor public transport. And they are still being asked to fill in a consultation form and wait patiently.
Nobody is arguing against reopening this line. The track largely exists. The land has been bought. These communities desperately need better connections. The case for it is overwhelming and has been for two decades.
But there is a difference between supporting a project and pretending progress is being made when it isn’t. Residents of the Cynon Valley are not stupid. They know what a genuine commitment looks like. And they know what a press release looks like.
When the Transport for Wales consultation opens — have your say. Make some noise. Hold them to it.
But we won’t be celebrating until we see a train.
We’ve been saying it since 2011. We’ll say it again: build it.
Aberdare to Hirwaun Railway
The Council Leader, Councillor Ann Crimmings, recently visited Aberdare station to talk about the ambitions of the proposed extension of passenger rail services beyond Aberdare to benefit communities including Trecynon, Hirwaun and Rhigos.
The Council remains supportive of the scheme and has been working with Transport for Wales Trafnidiaeth Cymru and the Welsh Government for some time.
The next stage of the process will be for Transport for Wales to carry out a public consultation on the proposals and, when the consultation by Transport for Wales starts, we would urge all residents to have their say.
You can view the Council Leader on the RCTC FB account
Related Posts
Do Transport for Wales know where the Rail Line is from aberdare to Hirwaun?
Aberdare to Hirwaun new rail line or new road thats the question?
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council employs more consultants but when will the Aberdare to Hirwaun Rail Line be completed?
