Mid-Wales alternative.
 

It was reported on BBC.tv Wales that HGV traffic on road routes from England to the Aberystwyth area has increased to intolerable levels.
I think that most people on these routes have experienced the frustration of sitting behind these 40 ton HGV's for mile after mile with no opportunity to overtake, especially the mountain section.
Now Railtrack in conjunction with the local authorities are to carry out a feasibility study to provide a rail based alternative, i think they are looking at grocery type freight.
Does any one know if the line from Shrewsbury - Welshpool -Newtown to the coast carry any freight at the moment?

There is a precedent for this. Eddie Stobart rail and Tesco have run 'perishible' trains successfully before.

I use this line when I go to visit my Mother who lives near Tywyn & have been doing so for the last six years & have not seen any freight in all that time
I think the main problem is it being single track with few passing places
Passing places were taken out when the line was rationalised some years ago.
Passing placaces could be replaced for a more intence rail service this would apply to the whole Cambrian line
But I suppose a freight service could run over night when there are no passenger trains(one in each direction every two hours)

If they reopen the Bangor to Pwlleli section quite a large proportion of traffic could be diverted off the roads.
I understand it has been contemplated but can't find any detailed information about it.
At the moment all the talk is about the Bangor Caernarfon branch.

Reopening Bangor - Afonwen(ex LNWR) is rather a lot of railway to rebuild.
The replacement of some passing loops on the ex Cambrian route Shrewsbury - Dovey junction - Aberystwyth. & Dovey Junction - Pwllheli would be a far cheaper option.
And with doing that a more frequent passenger service could be run.
But as I said before a freight service could be run over night providing locos were avaible that were fitted for radio signaling working.

Presumably this is a reference to ETCS ? (link here......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambrian_Line#Line_upgrade )

Is the line permanently running ETCS now ? I had just assumed that it was a trial, and that it would revert to 'Block' control when they'd proved the system worked.

(Not looking for an argument - whilst I understand the principle I really don't know what the plans were for over there :o )

Best wishes,

BW

As far as I know( last time I( used the line was in May this year)
I have seen no signals (colour light or semafor) while traveling over that line at lest twice a year since 2009.
Capacity I think is still a problem which I'm sure could be resolved by more passing loops.
There is space to re-enstate these & "IF" done a better service could be run(one each way per hour instead of one every two hours.
And a freight service could be run if a need could be prooved.
P.S. have used the road from Shrewsbury through Welshpool to visit my mother who lives near Tywyn and it can be a slow journey if you get behind a HGV. :(

It would be nice to be able to put the freight on the rails but economics dictate against it. To run modern containerised freight into West Wales would require a railhead probably at Aberystwyth which would cost a good few £millions. From the railhead the containers would have to go by road to their final destinations. From the road hauliers viewpoint they would have to have a local devoted fleet of trucks divorced from their normal (Birmingham?) operations. There is also the amount of traffic involved, say 100 containers per week to service the whole area from Fishguard to Pwllheli, this constitutes two train loads, who would pay for the infrastructure for such a small amount? Sorry West Wales, but the juggernauts are here to stay.

I'm sure you're correct if we're talking about an extensive general freight terminal, but I think there is a case for niche marketing.

Eg, lets say Tesco wants to run fruit and veg into wales. If they already have a warehouse or road distribution depot located close to a rail line then they can have a railhead.

And there's not much infrastructure involved initially. Really all you need is concrete hardstanding built alongside a rail siding. Lorries can pull up next to the rail wagons and Reach Stackers can transfer ISO containers between the two.

This has already been done successfully in Scotland.

To be honest the roads in the area are not very good(being polite)
So even with a railhead at some place on the west coast would not help much
My sister & mother live in a small village just outside Tywyn
And it takes just as long(can take longer ) than the train to drive to Shrewsbury & that's in a car not a HGV. :(
My sister has to take my niece to Bangor & it takes well in excess os three hours
I don't think pushing freight onto rail will save enough to warrent the excpence.

Reopening Caernarfon - Bangor would make a lot of sense. It would then be possible to pick up the Welsh Highland to Porthmadoc to connect with the Cambrian Coast Line.

Once they sort ERTMS on the Cambrian Coast there could be quite a bit of spare capacity to run a container service up the coast, as long as Barmouth Bridge will take the strain, to supply Supermarkets in the area. Would be a lot cheaper and more environmentally friendly than trying to improve the roads. I have driven minibuses extensively in the area and know how slow it can be!

This makes sense on two fronts, both for commercial and for tourist traffic.
I'm over in Bangor tonight for the weekend visiting my youngest daughter.
I'll get her to do some enquiring to see if there are any plans for further developing the Caernarfon Bangor branch reopening.

What narrow gauge & standard gauge how woul that work?
There are few supermarkets in that area anyway
Tywyn has a Spar & a Co-Op which can be supplied with one ore two lorries each a week.
The nearest Sainsbury's supermarket in the area is in Welshpool

Commercially it could be an asset for shifting the masses of eBay and mail order packages that seem to be an endlessly growing market.
How often do the carriers send huge white vans for miles up country lanes to drop one meagre parcel.
Welsh Highland could create collection points at each station.
If worked in conjunction with the post office the Highland could commission parcels vans for attaching to their trains.
There's also potential to increase the tourist traffic by making access via rail easier.
My eldest daughter did her masters in Transport and Sustainability and works for The First Transpenine Rail. She is always looking for opportunities to utilise any form of rail traffic movements.