Former railway line to be transformed for walking and cycling

Swansea Council is looking to extend its active travel network by creating a new 1.6km route, following the path of an old railway line between Grovesend and Pontarddulais.

The railway line has been derelict for a long time, with the route having become overgrown and inaccessible to the public.

The Council is using some of its £3m funding from the Welsh government Active Travel Fund to design and assess the feasibility for converting the unused railway into a shared use walking and cycling route.

Cllr Mark Thomas, cabinet member for environment enhancement and infrastructure management, said: ‘This is a really exciting scheme which we hope can help connect the communities of Grovesend and Pontarddulais to existing networks in other parts of the city. It also gives us the opportunity to reopen a former transport link which, for many years, carried freight trains across the region.

‘We are in the early stages of design and planning for this new route and hopefully in the near future we can look to secure additional funding to develop the route specifically for walking and cycling.’

The city currently has more than 120km of off-road walking and cycling infrastructure, with the latest funding from the Welsh government helping to develop a new route between Kingsbridge and Gowerton, seeing a huge increase in walkers and cyclists along this route.

Cllr Mark Thomas added: ‘In recent years, we have been very successful in securing funding to enable us to achieve our ambitions of increasing the network for walking and cycling.

‘We want to encourage as many people as possible to consider other methods of travelling around our city, instead of using the car. The creation of new and safe routes, linking up communities is a way of increasing this type of transport and people can do it safely without needing to use roads.’

In related news, Derby Council is encouraging local businesses to use greener travel by providing grants to help promote walking, cycling, public transport, and car sharing.

Photo supplied by Swansea City Council