Cymuned protestors joined the train at Bangor and Holywell

Around 15 members of Cymuned staged a protest on an Arriva train between Holyhead and Chester on Saturday.

The group was protesting about the train company's attitute towards the Welsh language.

Arriva defended its bilingual provision, and said it would not be taking action against the protesters, who refused to buy tickets.

The north Wales service was disrupted for 20 minutes while the protesters refused to pay their fares.

Asset

Ten members of Cymuned joined the train in Bangor at around 1200 GMT on Saturday while another five joined at Holywell.

Aran Jones, Cymuned's chief executive said the group wanted to discuss issues with Arriva.

And said he thought the company's attitude towards the Welsh-language was "old-fashioned".

"Cymraeg (Welsh) is a cultural and economic asset, and it is quite appalling that Arriva offer such a remarkably poor service on their website, on their help lines, and worst of all on their buses and trains.

"If they do not react quickly and positively to what we're asking, we will have no choice but to start a pattern of actions against them, on trains and on buses," he added.

Review

However, Arriva Trains Wales said on Monday said it was "committed" to providing bilingual services.

It said in a statement: "There was minor disruption to one of our services on Saturday when a handful of customers refused to pay their fares.

"We are disappointed as they chose to affect other customers on the service, rather than to talk to us direct about their concerns.

"Timetables are available in English and Welsh, as is the vast majority of the website. Indeed, we are currently reviewing the website to bring further developments for the provision of Welsh language. "

The company said it was also working closely with The Association of Train Operating Companies regarding its National Rail Enquiries service to establish whether this could be provided in Welsh.

Cymuned, which says it has around 2,000 members, wants Arriva to employ local people and provide bilingual train announcements and bilingual signs.