 Sugar Loaf Halt: One of the least used stations in Wales |
A remote train station in mid Wales - and the rail route which passes through it - could be under threat after it was revealed that only 99 passengers use it each year. Sugar Loaf Halt, north of Llandovery on the Heart of Wales line linking Swansea and Shrewsbury, welcomes on average just two passengers a week - compared with eight million at Cardiff Central.
The figures emerged after UK Transport Minister Kim Howells warned rail passengers in the region to "use it or lose it".
Mr Howells said that despite the rail links in Wales being the busiest since 1947, Sugar Loaf Halt was one of the most unused stations in Wales.
"It is almost certainly unique.
"Apparently in a very careful survey, they discovered that only 99 people used it last year," said the minister.
"I suspect it is only used by walkers, I cannot imagine anyone else can be using it regularly - clearly they are not."
But a rail users support group has defended the importance of keeping the station and the line, describing it as an "invaluable service".
 Gillian Wright says a better timetable is needed |
Gillian Wright, Chair of the Heart of Wales Line Travellers Association, said the Sugar Loaf Halt was needed for tourism.
"It is more used in the summer by ramblers and walkers," she said.
"We never know the exact number who are using the station because many of them will book a ticket to some other station and it won't show on the system that they are travelling to Sugar Loaf.
She blamed the timetable for the low numbers of travellers using the line and said that there was a need for an alteration to the times.
"The current political thinking is that there is no closing of railway lines."
"But, that doesn't alter the fact that we are likely to get a better timetable and better structure if we can encourage more people to use the line," she added.
Wales and Borders train crew manager Nigel Morgan does not want the Sugar Loaf to close.
"There are a number of request stops frequently used along the line where passengers raise their arm at the driver and the drivers stops the train and picks them up," he said.
"It is an invaluable service - this is a remote areas and the trains come down and serve the communities very well.
He agreed that improvements to the timetable would make a difference to the numbers travelling on the line.
"More trains would benefit a lot of people - they would have a choice of trains, when to go when to come back.
Idris Jones, a regular passenger on the line, said: "I love coming on it because I have known it since we were children and there is nothing quite like it to cheer me up than coming on this line.
"I would be very sad if this line wasn't running anymore."
Fellow passenger Gillian Still said the service was a vital link: "I don't run a car and I do rely on this train."
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It is an invaluable service 
