Renewed calls have been made for an hourly service along the Cambrian line between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury as passenger numbers increase.

SARPA, the rail user group for the Cambrian Railway Lines, has welcomed figures which show that the numbers using the lines have returned to their pre-pandemic levels.

The latest figures show that the use of the line is now at 98 per cent of the levels recorded before the covid-19 pandemic.

The passenger numbers are now expected to reach their highest point in recent history during the coming years.

The group are therefore calling on Transport for Wales to increase services on the lines, which run between Aberystwyth, Shrewsbury and Pwllheli.

Dr Jeff Smith, chair of SARPA, said: “It’s wonderful to see increased use of the railway, and this is what we need to see more of for environmental, economic, social, community and linguistic reasons.

"If the service was to improve, increasing the number of trains, increasing the number of carriages and improving reliability, we could see passenger numbers growing faster still.

"By introducing a full hourly service on the Cambrian Main Line, as has been promised since 1999, the line can have a very successful future.

"The recent increase in passenger numbers is to be welcomed and Transport for Wales now have a golden opportunity to provide for the increasing demand for rail journeys and spark even more growth."

An hourly service has been promised for many years, but was scaled back in 2024 when Transport for Wales announced an hourly service would run, but only for four months of the year, from Summer 2026.

The Transport for Wales Future Timetable Review says an hourly service will run between March and September, adding: "In the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic, the way people use public transport has changed significantly.”