The Heart of Wales Line Trail A Feasibility Study for the Heart of Wales Line Development Company, HOWLTA and Arriva Trains Wales Alison Caffyn and Professor Les Lumsdon Final Report September 2016 Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 2 1.1 Concept and Objectives of the Trail .................................................................................................. 2 1.2 Methodology and Criteria ................................................................................................................. 3 2. Context and key issues ........................................................................................................................ 5 2.1 Context .............................................................................................................................................. 5 2.2 Walking markets .............................................................................................................................. 10 2.3 Key issues......................................................................................................................................... 11 3. The Route .......................................................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Overview .......................................................................................................................................... 13 3.2 Route sections ................................................................................................................................. 15 3.3 Infrastructure requirements ............................................................................................................ 16 3.4 Route descriptions ........................................................................................................................... 19 3.4 Waymarking the route .................................................................................................................... 19 4. Marketing and interpretation ........................................................................................................... 21 4.1 Trail name ........................................................................................................................................ 21 4.2 Marketing ........................................................................................................................................ 21 4.3 Interpretation .................................................................................................................................. 24 5. Delivery, Costs and Funding .............................................................................................................. 26 5.1 Management and Implementation of the Trail ............................................................................... 26 5.2 Costings ........................................................................................................................................... 28 5.3 Funding ............................................................................................................................................ 28 5.4 Maintenance and further development .......................................................................................... 32 5.5 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 32 6. Appendices ........................................................................................................................................ 33 Appendix 1 – Stakeholders ........................................................................................................................ 34 Appendix 2 – Maps of the Trail Route ....................................................................................................... 37 Appendix 3 – Heart of Wales Line Trail Route Section Descriptions ......................................................... 42 Appendix 4 – Infrastructure Requirements ............................................................................................... 74 1 1. Introduction 1.1 Concept and Objectives of the Trail The Heart of Wales Line runs 129 miles between Shrewsbury and Swansea taking passengers through some wonderful countryside and relatively remote areas of the Shropshire Hills, Powys, Carmarthenshire and Swansea. The railway is popular with many passengers but has considerable spare capacity at times and efforts are being made to increase the number of people who use the route. The line has long been popular with walkers as it provides access to great walking country and offers the opportunity to walk linear routes between rail stations. The Rail Ramblers group has for many years organised guided group walks usually taking trains out of Shrewsbury. Other Rambler groups located on or near the line have also used it to engage in linear walks. A book of walking routes from the rail line has also been published with the aim of encouraging a greater number of people to use the train to go walking. This feasibility study is to identify whether a single long distance walking route along the rail line is achievable. The aims of such a route would be to: Encourage sustainable tourism in mid and south west Wales and South Shropshire Support existing and new businesses in the area served by the Heart of Wales Line Encourage healthy outdoor activity and additional use of public transport, particularly the Heart of Wales Line The intention with a long distance walking trail is that some people might walk the whole trail but that many more would complete the trail in sections using the train to access day or weekend walks and using local shops, cafes, pubs and overnight accommodation along the way. This study brings together all the information required to make the case for and implement a Heart of Wales Line Trail. It provides an overview of the context before giving more detail on the key issues which will need to be addressed if the trail is to be implemented. The proposed route is then presented along with the infrastructure improvements that would be required to launch the route and make it viable. Recommendations for marketing and interpreting the trail follow, along with the estimated costings and possible sources of funding for which the route may be eligible. The final sections of the report consider the management and maintenance of the Trail and the next steps required to take it forward to implementation. The Steering Group for the study included representatives from the Heart of Wales Line Development Company, HoWL Travellers Association and Arriva Trains Wales. An early decision was taken to research the trail route from Craven Arms to Llanelli only. While the rail line starts in Shrewsbury it branches away from the main line only at Craven Arms. Also the Shropshire Way currently links Shrewsbury with Craven Arms via Church Stretton. Similarly at the southern end of the route between Llanelli and Swansea walkers can join the Wales Coast Path to complete the full length of the route. The other key decision was to write the route description from north to south. It was agreed that the walking journey leading from England into and through the Heart of Wales, finishing at the Loughor estuary and coast made more sense than the other direction – although of course walkers would be able to walk in either direction. 2 1.2 Methodology and Criteria The work taken to prepare this report involved consulting with a wide range of stakeholders. A full list is given in Appendix 1. Importantly it included the four local authorities that the route runs through and in particular their Rights of Way teams. Many tourism and countryside bodies were contacted and local walking groups and organisations, some of whom offered to help test sections of the route out as part of the work – their help is gratefully acknowledged. The overall concept of the trail was welcomed universally by those people and organisations which responded to our communications and consultation exercise. ‘I think the plan for a long distance route following the HoW line an excellent idea.’ Powys Rambler rep ‘From my point of view I support the principle and welcome the intersection with Beacons Way.’ Brecon Beacons National Park Authority ‘The committee were very positive about the idea for a Heart of Wales Railway long-distance path and were only too happy to provide whatever support they could for the concept. They were also looking forward to the time when it becomes a reality.’ Llanelli Ramblers ‘I consider this to be an excellent project encouraging tourism into an area that will benefit hugely, making the most of assets that are already in place.’ Shropshire Rights of Way Team The more detailed comments from the consultation have been integrated into the report findings and recommendations. The route was researched on paper using 1:25,000 Ordnance survey maps and then walked on the ground. In some places the ‘best’ route was obvious and if there were few problems on the ground it was adopted relatively quickly as part of the proposed route. However, in some areas there are very few rights of way and in others considerable problems were experienced with the rights of way being obstructed or difficult to follow and this required testing