Sea floods Cambrian line near Borth, stopping Machynlleth to Aberystwyth trains
Archive article. Published on Sun 25 Oct, 07:09. Conditions may have changed since this reporting.
The sea has flooded the railway between Machynlleth and Borth, Transport for Wales said on Sunday evening, and trains cannot run between Machynlleth and Aberystwyth in either direction until sea levels drop to a safe level. TfW expects the disruption to last from 6.40pm until 10.10pm. Further up the Cambrian coast, TfW said a shortage of trains means no services between Machynlleth and Tywyn until the end of Sunday. Trains from Pwllheli terminate at Tywyn, and Lloyds Coaches are running limited replacement road transport between Tywyn and Machynlleth at no extra cost. Natural Resources Wales listed no flood warnings and no severe warnings at 6.07pm, with 12 flood alerts in force, the same as at 5pm. The last two warnings, on the River Ely at Talbot Green and at Ely Bridge in Cardiff, were removed earlier in the afternoon.
NRW warning service, 6.07pm on 25 October
- Flood warnings in force
- 0
- Flood warnings at 3.07pm
- 2
- Flood alerts in force
- 12
North Wales
The Conwy Valley line closure, earlier expected to end at 5pm, now runs to the end of Sunday while the line awaits inspection by Network Rail, TfW said. Keans Coaches are running buses between Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog at no extra cost. A tree that blocked the Llandudno branch at Llandudno Junction until 4.30pm has been cleared and services are returning to normal, TfW said. The Wrexham General to Chester train shortage notice is no longer listed.
West Wales and the Heart of Wales
No trains will run from Carmarthen to Milford Haven, Fishguard Harbour or Pembroke Dock until the end of Sunday. TfW said replacement road transport cannot currently serve Manorbier because of worsening road conditions. The 3.18pm from Swansea to Shrewsbury and the 4.20pm from Shrewsbury to Swansea via Llandrindod were cancelled and replaced by RHN and Lakeside buses, with arrangements in place until 11.59pm.
Mid Wales and the Cambrian coast
The 4.07pm and 6.06pm from Birmingham International to Aberystwyth terminate at Machynlleth, with Lloyds Coaches buses on to Aberystwyth leaving at about 6.48pm and 8.48pm. The 7.27pm from Aberystwyth to Machynlleth is replaced by road transport, TfW said, and buses are running both ways at no extra cost until 10.10pm. TfW also warns that Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth trains may be cancelled throughout the day because of flooding. Customers with tickets dated 23, 24 or 25 October can instead travel on any TfW service on 27 or 28 October.
Where alerts remain
The 12 alerts cover the North Gwynedd, Glaslyn and Dwyryd catchments, the River Wye and lower Severn in Powys, the upper and lower Teifi, the lower Towy, and the coasts of Swansea Bay and Gower, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion between Clarach and Cardigan, and Llyn and Cardigan Bay.
Wind warning in the north
A Met Office yellow warning of wind remains in force for Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Anglesey and Wrexham until 9pm on Sunday. It is the only Met Office weather warning listed for Wales.
Check before you travel
An alert means flooding is possible and people should prepare; a warning means flooding is expected and people should act. Check NRW's live service for your area or call Floodline on 0345 988 1188, and check tfw.wales before setting out.
Background and supporting figures
Where this sits
Four of the five flood warnings in force in Wales were on one river, the Ely, and the newest, at Ely Bridge in Cardiff, was issued at 04:20.
Flood alerts fell from 45 at 07:07 to 24 at 09:07 and 17 at 11:09 on 25 October, while the four River Ely warnings stayed in force.