RAIL chiefs at Transport for Wales say they have listened to feedback over plans to change train timetables.

In April, the Welsh Government owned rail operator announced changes that would have seen cuts on the Cambrian Coast line between Machynlleth and Pwllheli and further delays to a long-promised hourly service between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury.

Transport for Wales says plans to run one train an hour to Aberystwyth will remain a summer only plan between March and September and will not be introduced in winter months.

They will however add one more train at 4.30pm from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth all year round.

TfW said: "This is because of a known capacity issue on 17:30 train from Shrewsbury to Machynlleth.

"TfW aim to introduce this extra train in May 2025 but is subject to agreement with other operators and Network Rail.

"The wider one train per hour will come in from March 2026."

This is 14 years after the promise of an hourly train service was first made.

TfW said there was a 'significant response' to plans to cut the 8.52am Machynlleth to Pwllheli service and return at 11.37am in the winter.

TfW said: "After much consideration, TfW opted to retain the 08:52 and 11:37 services all year around.

"Passenger numbers and revenue will be closely monitored over the next winter period and reviewed when planning the December 2025 timetable."

The last evening services in the summer (March to December) - will run at the same times as they currently run between Pwllheli and Machynlleth (approximately 20:26 Pwllheli southbound and 21:47 Machynlleth northbound).

TfW says it will be doubling capacity on four key Cambrian Coast services from summer 2025 from two carriages to four carriages to help key local tourism businesses.

This will mean there are 560 more seats on Cambrian Coast services during the summer in comparison to Summer 2022.

Colin Lea, planning and performance director at Transport for Wales, said: “We have done our best to listen to key local feedback and knowledge and incorporate this into our decision making, as well as continue to progress with our original commitment of putting on more carriages on the Cambrian Coast Line services in the summer months; something that was trialled successfully in 2023.

“While this remains our intention, we still need to work closely with our industry partners in Network Rail before these changes can come into effect in future timetable changes.”