Ffurfiwyd grŵp ymgyrchu Traws Link Cymru yn 2013 gyda’r nod o adfer y rheilffyrdd rhwng Aberystwyth a Chaerfyrddin, ac Afon Wen a Bangor, a gaewyd i deithwyr yn y 1960au o dan raglen Beeching i rwydwaith rheilffyrdd Prydain. Ar hyn o bryd, mae canolbarth a gorllewin Cymru ymhlith rhai o ardaloedd mwyaf difreintiedig y Deyrnas Unedig ac, yn wir, Gorllewin Ewrop. Ac eto, mae gan y rhanbarth hwn gryn botensial o ran twristiaeth ac amaethyddiaeth; mae ganddo gronfa gyflogaeth a allai wasanaethu ystod eang o ddiwydiannau bach a chanolig; mae ganddo dri champws prifysgol a sawl coleg addysg bellach cysylltiedig ar saith campws; dyma leoliad Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru; Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru; pencadlys sianel deledu S4C; ac mae ganddi hanes diwylliannol cyfoethog ac amrywiol.

I wireddu potensial y rhanbarth hwn, mae angen gweledigaeth, cynllunio a mewnfuddsoddi. Ond mae’r rhwydwaith cyfathrebu gwael yn parhau yn anfantais fawr. Mae’r system ffyrdd bresennol yn annigonol ar gyfer anghenion y rhanbarth, ac er bod y cysylltiadau rheilffordd presennol tua’r dwyrain o Fangor ac Aberystwyth, ac i’r dwyrain a’r gorllewin o Gaerfyrddin, yn cael eu defnyddio’n helaeth, nid ydynt yn gwneud fawr ddim i wella cysylltedd rhanbarthol.

Mae Traws Link Cymru wedi dadlau y gallai rheilffyrdd newydd rhwng Aberystwyth a Chaerfyrddin ac Afon Wen a Bangor ddarparu’r ysgogiad sydd ei angen i roi hwb cychwynnol i adfywio economaidd a chymdeithasol ledled y rhanbarth. At hynny, byddai rheilffordd sy’n rhedeg o Fangor yn y gogledd i Gaerfyrddin yn y de nid yn unig yn darparu cyswllt trafnidiaeth pwysig rhwng De Cymru ddiwydiannol a’r gogledd gwledig, ond byddai hefyd yn rhwymo’r wlad gyda’i gilydd i greu Cymru fwy integredig. O’r herwydd, byddai gan y rheilffyrdd newydd hyn arwyddocâd strategol a gwleidyddol sylweddol.

Am rhagor o wybodaeth, ewch i gwefan Traws Link Cymru.

The campaign group Traws Link Cymru was formed in 2013 with aims to reinstate the railway lines between Aberystwyth and Carmarthen, and Afon Wen and Bangor, both of which were closed to passengers in the 1960s under the programme of Beeching Cuts to the British rail network. Mid- and West Wales are currently some of the most deprived areas of the United Kingdom and, indeed, of Western Europe. Yet this region has considerable potential in terms of tourism and agriculture; it has an employment pool that could service a wide range of small and medium-scale industries; it has three university campuses and several linked colleges of further education on seven campuses; it has the National Library of Wales; the Royal Commission for Ancient and Historic Monuments; the headquarters of the S4C television channel; and it has a rich and diverse cultural history.

Realising the potential of this region requires, vision, planning and inward investment. But the poor communications network remains a major drawback. The current road system is inadequate for the region’s needs, and while the existing railway links eastwards from Bangor and Aberystwyth, and east and west from Carmarthen, are both well-used, they do little to improve regional connectivity.

Traws Link Cymru has argued that new railway lines between Aberystwyth and Carmarthen and Afon Wen and Bangor could provide the stimulus needed to kick-start economic and social regeneration throughout the region. Moreover, a railway line running from Bangor in the north to Carmarthen in the south would not only provide an important transport link between industrial South Wales and the rural north, but it would also bind the country together to produce a more integrated Wales. As such, these new railway lines would have considerable strategic and political significance.

For further information, please visit the Traws Link Cymru website.