CERDDED 230 O FILLTIROEDD O FANGOR I GAERDYDD I BWYSO AM AIL-AGOR LLINELL DRÊN RHWNG DE A GOGLEDD CYMRU
BYDD cynghorydd o Wynedd yn cerdded 230 o filltiroedd o Fangor i Gaerdydd fel rhan o ymgyrch i ail-agor rheilffyrdd rhwng de a gogledd Cymru.
Bydd Elfed Wyn ap Elwyn, 26, o Drawsfynydd, cynghorydd Plaid Cymru dros Bowydd a Rhiw, Blaenau Ffestiniog, yn dilyn coridorau rheilffyrdd Afon Wen, y Cambrian, Aberystwyth i Gaerfyrddin a llinell y Great Western i Gaerdydd.
Bwriad y daith yw codi ymwybyddiaeth o’r angen am well system drafnidiaeth gyhoeddus i uno Cymru ac yn ehangach.
Bydd modd dilyn taith Elfed drwy ddefnyddio map tracio byw Traws Linc Cymru.
Mae Elfed yn aelod o grŵp ymgyrchu Traws Linc Cymru sydd eisiau gweld rhwydwaith trenau trwy Orllewin Cymru i gysylltu cymunedau y de a’r gogledd gyda’i gilydd ac arbed oriau o deithio i bobl sy’n gorfod mynd trwy Loegr ar hyn o bryd.
Bydd Elfed yn dechrau ar ei daith ac yn gadael Bangor fore Sul, Medi 17 ac yn gorffen 10 niwrnod yn ddiweddarach yng Nghaerdydd ar Fedi 27.
Bydd yn cerdded o Fangor i Penrhyndeudraeth (Medi 17), Saib i fynychu cyfarfodydd Cyngor (18), Penrhyndeudraeth i Abermaw 19, Abermaw-Machynlleth 20, Machynlleth-Aberystwyth 21, Aberystwyth-Llanbedr Pont Steffan 22, Llanbedr Pont Steffan-Caerfyrddin 23, Caerfyrddin-Abertawe 24, Abertawe-Penybont-ar-Ogwr 25, Penybont-ar-Ogwr-Penarth 26 a Penarth-Bae Caerdydd, Medi 27.
Meddai Elfed: “Dwi wir isio gweld y rheilffyrdd yn ail-agor achos dwi’n gweld yr angen i blethu’r cymunedau sydd wedi colli cysylltiad a’i gilydd o adeg (toriadau) Beeching.
“Mae rhywun yn meddwl pa mor bell mae cymuned fel Tregaron o Aberystwyth neu Benygroes o Gaernarfon. Dwi yn meddwl fod y cysylltiadau wedi pellhau ers torri’r rheilffyrdd. Mae angen ail-gysylltu cymunedau gwledig Cymreig a fyddai’n ddatblygiad positif i’r economi a’r iaith hefyd.”
Mae Elfed o’r farn y bydde’n bosib i rywun deithio o’r gogledd i Gaerdydd o fewn ychydig oriau – ac yno ac yn ôl yn hawdd o fewn diwrnod yn y dyfodol – o wella’r system rheilffyrdd.
Meddai: “Mae’n hurt bod ni’n gorfod teithio siap C o chwith os ydan ni isio mynd o Fangor i Gaerdydd – a gorfod mynd o Fangor i Loegr ac i lawr y Mers tuag at Gaerdydd. Mae’r sefyllfa yn wallgof.”
Mae Elfed yn briod gyda Anwen ac yn dad i efeilliaid 15 mis oed – Iorwerth Prysor a Gwynant Edw. Meddai: “Yn y dyfodol, dwi isio nhw fedru dal y tren yn Penrhyndeudraeth i fynd i Gaerdydd yn hytrach na gorfod cael car neu os ydyn nhw eisiau mynd i Fangor fod yna drên iddyn nhw.
“Dwi isio datblygu Cymru i fod yn wlad hyderus a llewyrchus i fyw ynddi hi fel ein bod ni yn cysylltu Cymru yn fewnol – yn hytrach na rhyw gwpwrdd dan grisia i San Steffan fel mae ar hyn o bryd.”
Ychwanegodd: “Os ydych chi isio ymuno gyda mi ar y daith, neu’n gallu cynnig lle i mi gael llety am y noson yn ystod fy nhaith byswn yn ddiolchgar iawn!”
Mae 11,447 o bobl eisoes wedi llofnodi deiseb gan Elfed yn galw am ail-agor rheilffyrdd i gysylltu gogledd a de Cymru.
Bydd y ddeiseb yn cael ei chyflwyno i Bwyllgor Deisebau Senedd Cymru ddydd Mercher, Medi 27 – sef y diwrnod y bydd Elfed yn cyrraedd pen ei daith ym Mae Caerdydd.
CROESO TO THE EISTEDDFOD – CARS AND BUSES ONLY
THOUSANDS of people will flock to Pen Llŷn (Llŷn Peninsula) for the National Eisteddfod of Wales at the beginning of August – most of them in cars or buses.
The fact of the matter is that, unlike in the past, there is no existing rail service – or even tracks – to connect most people in Wales with the area.
So, most of the 150,000 competitors and visitors travelling to the small village of Boduan, near Pwllheli, between August 5-12, will have to use cars, buses or taxis to arrive and travel around the area.
The nearest train station is Pwllheli (Cambrian Railway) and Bangor (main train line along north Wales).
It takes anything between 2 hours 44 minutes and 3 hours 50 minutes to get from Aberystwyth to Pwllheli by train – about an hour and a half by car.
Unfortunately, there are no trains going from Bangor to Caernarfon or on to Pwllheli – and there is certainly no connection to Boduan. The line was closed in 1972 and the connection between Caernarfon and Afon Wen.
Although it will not be easy for everyone to travel to the Eisteddfod this year, remember to support the Traws Link Cymru (TLC) campaign to reintroduce rail links in west Wales so that will have decent connections with the rest of the network as soon as possible.
NOTE FOR EDITORS: An on-line petition calling for the reopening of the railway lines from Bangor to Caernarfon and on to Afonwen as well as from Aberystwyth to Carmarthen attracted over 11,000 signatures in just a few months.
Now that the petition has exceeded 10,000 signatures it is likely to be debated at the Senedd in Cardiff.
A Feasibility Study for the Aberystwyth to Carmarthen line, completed in 2018, showed no significant obstacles to reopening, and the Senedd debate could lead to further feasibility assessments for the northern sections of the railway link.
Reopening the line between Bangor and Caernarfon has been included in Wales’ Transport Strategy for many years. And there is a very strong business case for this with through trains to Caernarfon from Manchester Airport, Cardiff and London giving easy access for visitors to the area and its world heritage status and for local people to travel to jobs along the coast.
Reinstating the track south from Caernarfon would greatly improve access to Penrhyn Llŷn (Peninsula) and the Cambrian Coast. Journeys such as Pwllheli to London would be possible in under four hours via Caernarfon compared with the current six hours via Machynlleth and Birmingham.
Similarly access to places such as Lampeter, Tregaron and the Teifi Valley would be much quicker via Swansea than is currently the case, thus opening West Wales and making North-South Wales journeys possible without going via England.
If any of your readers would like to join our campaign, please log on to trawslinkcymru.org.uk or donate to your crowdfunding campaign https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/trawslinkcymru2 or go on to our Facebook or Twitter or Instagram links.
Mike Walker (Chairperson, Traws Link Cymru)
For more information, please get in touch.