A man who’s walked more than 200 miles from Bangor to the Senedd in Cardiff will reach his destination on Wednesday.
Elfed Wyn ap Elwyn is calling for a direct rail link between North and South Wales.
Currently, travelling between Bangor and Cardiff means having to cross the border into England and change at Shrewsbury to complete the journey.
The Gwynedd councillor told Sky News the government should be investing in public transport amid the ongoing row on the default 20mph limit in Wales.
“With the developments on roads recently where the government is trying to get us to use more public transport, through 20mph and through the restriction of a number of new project, that only works if there’s investment within public transport too,” he said.
A Welsh government spokesperson said it was “committed to protecting potential travel corridors” along the country’s west coast.
The spokesperson added it was working with Transport for Wales on how transport links between North and South Wales could be strengthened.
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A petition calling for an internal rail connection within the country has gained over 12,000 signatures and is set to be debated in the Senedd.
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Cllr ap Elwyn said recent developments on HS2 took away from “any argument” that the project would be of benefit to North Wales.
The call for Wales to get a share of funding has been echoed by the Welsh government.
“We need to push to get the money we’re supposed to get through the Barnett Formula,” Mr ap Elwyn said.
“And only a fraction of that would be needed to re-establish a railway line which links our communities and pulls people closer together within Wales.”
The UK government has previously said HS2 is a “national project” which benefits both England and Wales.
It also said Wales has benefited indirectly from any increases in the Department for Transport’s budget which may have been driven by HS2.
Source : Sky News : https://news.sky.com/story/man-walks-200-miles-to-call-for-direct-rail-link-between-north-and-south-wales-12970840
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