A TRAIN company has been slammed for the “appalling” pronunciation of place names and lack of Welsh language announcements.
Porthmadog Town Council has accused Arriva Trains Wales of “an absolute lack of respect” when it comes to the Welsh language and have composed a letter to each of the local councils along the Cambrian Line to support their call for a fit-for-purpose bilingual system.
Simon Brooks, chair of Porthmadog Town Council, said: “The lack of Welsh announcements on the Cambrian Line is something that has been raised in the town council time after time.
“How difficult is it for Arriva trains to find somebody in Gwynedd capable of recording announcements in Welsh and English? It’s something that should be sorted out in five minutes, and what it really shows is an absolute lack of respect for us and our communities.
“And it’s not just the lack of bilingualism, but also the appalling pronunciation of place names. I recently travelled down the Cambrian Line to watch Porthmadog play football at Caersws, and the pronunciation of some places in Meirionnydd was so bad you wouldn’t know where you were.
“Really, a big international company like Arriva should be able to do better than this.
“Porthmadog Town Council has decided to write to every community council along the Cambrian Coast Line about this issue.
“Hopefully together we can get this tackled.”
Pwllheli Town Council agreed that something must be done.
“Pwllheli Town Council is very concerned that announcements on trains arriving and departing Pwllheli are in English only and we are pressing Arriva trains to have these services bilingually,” said a council spokesperson.
Arriva Trains Wales believes it is already doing enough to provide adequate Welsh language provision
A spokesperson for the company said: “We recognise the importance of the Welsh language to the communities we serve and are proud to have many bilingual colleagues.
“On the Cambrian Line to Pwllheli and Porthmadog we are proud to have run more services this summer than at any point since the Beeching axe and we will continue improving the customer experience, including the use and availability of Welsh language provision by encouraging staff to use the language where and when they can.
"New customer information screens will be installed at Pwllheli and Barmouth which will be fully bilingual in the coming months.”