Efforts to restore a railway link to Abertillery have been put in doubt after running into difficulties securing the necessary government funding.
Abertillery, in the Ebbw Fach valley in South Wales, has been without a rail service of its own since the closure of the town’s train station to passengers in 1962, and to all services in 1969.
It was hoped the town would be able to take advantage of the UK Government’s ‘Restoring Your Railway’ fund, aimed at supporting the reopening of former railway lines.
At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, Labour group leader Cllr Steve Thomas reportedly suggested it was time for the local authority to identify other projects to invest in.
The discussions on the Abertillery rail spur took place as councillors looked at a wider report on the performance of the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal and the progress of projects underway in the county borough during 2020 and 2021.
These included the Metro Plus rail link from Cardiff to Ebbw Vale.
Cllr Thomas was reported telling the meeting: “As I understand it there’s nothing concrete from Her Majesty’s (UK) Government for funding that particular venture.
“If there’s not going to be something tangible, we should invest money elsewhere.”
Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council's Director of Regeneration and Community Services, Richard Crook, added that there were still conversations ongoing around the funding, but it was not agreed yet: “Conversations are ongoing with the UK Government. They announced last year a programme called ‘Restoring Your Railways’ and sought bids from across the UK as part of the levelling up agenda for railways to be developed.
“As part of that, Welsh Government submitted a number of schemes for consideration and the Abertillery spur was one of those.
“There is ongoing dialogue between UK and Welsh Government civil servants about this scheme.”
