I’m certain that I’m not the only one who reads headlines like this and thinks “good for them, let’s not go ruining it for the locals shall we”
“Poor transport infrastructure” was cited as a reason preventing Wales from attracting more people visiting the UK.
Yes, let’s fix the unspoiled countryside with more roads.
It probably means having more buses and trains avaliable to use (by building more maintenance facilities and larger stations for interchange). As having one come every 4h is a bit rubbish and would put anyone off.
I’ve been to places in Wales where it’s a bus out in the morning and one back home in the evening.
People can’t rely on buses that run like this would you risk getting a bus out somewhere if the only return bus might get cancelled?
Not on your nelly! Just the chance of missing it would be enough to put me off.
Public transport needs to be cheep, reliable, and often to work. You can get away with any two of these at a push. Public transport works in London because you know no matter when (within reason) you turn up another bus/train/tube will be there with 15mins.
That’s it, they need to be as regular as… buses.
If I wander down to the bus stop or train station I don’t really have to know the times as something will be along shortly.
A core problem in Wales’ transport infrastructure is that it’s very difficult to go North-South via public transport. The campaign for a North-South railway is something that’s been going on for a while.
Currently if you want to go from Swansea to Bangor, Google tells me it’s a 4hr 24m (155 mile) drive, but it’s around a 5hr 20m-ish train journey that takes you east to Cardiff, then north to Chester or Crewe (in England!) before back west to Bangor - and if you want to go onwards from Bangor (e.g. to Caernarfon) then you’re reliant on buses.
What that means in practice is that for international tourists we’re basically saying you can visit Cardiff/Swansea/Gower/Brecon in the South, or you can visit Snowdonia/Anglesey in the North, but not both - whereas if they visit England then they’ve got more options.
Here is the issue with UK planning, first through it new roads, not new public transport.
I think Wales is one of those things like Skegness or Blackpool. It’s more for natives than it is for somebody to fly a thousand miles to see.
It’s nice and all, and fairly unique within the UK, but it’s not that unique internationally. Most countries have a nice nature-y hilly bit. They don’t all have a bunch of soldiers with silly hats that pass out in summer.
I disagree, I lived in Ceredigion for a few years and would recommend it to anyone. I’m not saying it would be a good idea to put an all-inclusive hotel halfway up Cadair Idris but if I was a tourist to the UK Iooking for natural beauty it would be a decent choice of destination especially if you were going to drive up to Snowdonia and Anglesey later on.
Also thanks to a certain famous film star investor there’s apparently Americans getting their first passport to see Wrexham (a town one of my Welsh friends previously tried to claim was in England to avoid taking responsibility) of all places!