It’s an iconic railway line, stretching 121 miles through some of Britain’s finest landscapes, that has recently been named one of Europe’s best rail journeys
The Heart of Wales line was called “a spectrum of scenery” by the Lonely Planet series of guide books and ranked alongside top European train journeys like Le Petit Train Juane in the French Pyrenees, The Bernina Express in Switzerland, and The Brenner Railway in Germany, Austria and Italy. The scenic route spreads from the picturesque estuaries of south-west Wales to “one of England’s prettiest medieval cities”.
But concerns are growing over the line’s longevity, with councillors in one part of Wales raising alarm bells over declining services on the route.
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The route takes four hours from start to finish and travels through beautiful towns and small villages such as Llandeilo and Llandovery in Wales to Craven Arms and Church Stretton further north. But from December this year, daily services will be trimmed down from five to four, coinciding with the scrapping of two late-night services to the towns of Llandovery and Llandrindod Wells.
Carmarthenshire councillors supported a motion pointing out under-investment in the Heart of Wales Line that’s stretched out over decades. They voiced concerns about possible service reductions threatening its long-term future. The motion urged the Welsh Government to put Transport for Wales’ (TfW) decision under review.
The railway line boasts many stops, some on request only, including Bynea, Llangennech, Pontarddulais, Pantyffynnon, Ammanford, Llandybie, Ffairfach, Llandeilo, Llangadog, Llanwrda, Llandovery, Cynghordy, Sugar Loaf, Llanwrtyd, Llangammarch, Garth, Cilmeri, Builth Road, Llandrindod, Pen-y-Bont, Dolau, Llanbister Road, Llangynllo, Knucklas, Knighton, Bucknell, Hopton Heath and Broome.
In 2023, our reporter Robert Harries took the journey along the entirety of this route. He said: “There’s great value for money to be enjoyed here. For £13 (one way) you can literally travel through the heart of Wales and take in all that it has to offer. By the time we get to Ffairfach we’re really into the rural nature of this journey, passing rivers and streams and fields filled with sheep. Soon the colourful row of terraced houses that were probably built just to be on a Llandeilo postcard sit high above a hill on my left.
“As we hurtle past Cynghordy and towards the wonderfully named stop of Sugar Loaf, a thousand trees line steep mountains that dovetail like something from the opening of a Roger Moore Bond film. If it wasn’t for the incessantly chatty Englishman two rows in front talking the ear off the poor sod next to him, I would swear we were in the Swiss Alps in summertime, as the sun breaks through the dip between mountains.
“As well as all the hills and the fields, this journey also takes me to some of the most picturesque and pretty little towns and villages in the country – surrounded by red bricks and tiles, country pubs, a glorious viaduct – and more or less directly into the quaint gardens of those who live along the line. It’s spectacular, like strolling through a human-sized model village. It’s a part of Wales I’m not familiar with; it’s a million miles from Cardiff and Swansea, from Llanelli and Carmarthen.
“By the time I get off at Craven Arms I feel like I’ve seen an honest advert for what Wales is: it’s gorgeous but you can never ever rely on the weather. I can’t wait to come on this train again. It’s well worth the £13, the time, and the lack of phone and internet signal. More than three hours of sitting down looking out of the window; more than three hours where my phone barely left my pocket. It’s wonderful.”
Lonely Planet’s full rundown of the best European train journeys
The Heart of Wales line was lauded as one of the top 10 train rides in Europe by a renowned guide book, which said: “Expect a spectrum of scenery, alternating from the sand-edged estuaries of South Wales, via bucolic farming towns and tracts of forest and hill country you probably never knew existed, through to one of England’s prettiest medieval cities.”
Here was the full list:
1. Settle to Carlisle, England: 73 miles
2. Le Petit Train Jaune, France: 39 miles
3. Belgrade-to-Bar Railway, Serbia and Montenegro: 296 miles
4. The Bernina Express, Switzerland: 96 miles
5. The Heart of Wales Line, Wales and England: 121 miles
6. Munich to Venice on the Brenner Railway, Germany, Austria and Italy: 350 miles
7. The Kyle of Lochalsh Line, Scotland: 84 miles
8. Nova Gorica to Jesenice, Slovenia: 55 miles
9. The Centovalli Express, Switzerland and Italy: 32 miles
10. Bergensbanen, Norway: 308 miles