Calls have been made this week for assurances about the long term future of Tenby rail services.

This follows a warning from one of Britain's most experienced transport writers that all but two of Wales' railway lines could face a fight for survival if the rail industry fails to curb its soaring costs this year.

Richard Hope, consultant Editor of Railway Gazette International, has warned that lines such as Carmarthen to Pembroke Dock could be the first to go as the Strategic Rail Authority tries to balance its books.

Other industry experts have already warned that the government's growing tendency to target resources to busier urban lines is making cuts in rural services more likely.

Now Plaid Cymru Prospective Assembly candidate for Carmarthen West and South Pembs., Llyr Hughes Griffiths, has written to the Labour Transport Minister, Alistair Darling MP, demanding a guarantee that services west of Carmarthen receive their fair share of funding and investment.

"It's clear that government funding for rail services is being prioritised for main lines and the commuter networks of south-east England," said Mr. Griffiths during a visit to Tenby station on Monday. "The recent request for companies tendering for the Welsh rail franchise to reduce their costing proposals by 20 per cent shows how Wales is losing out.

"Rural communities throughout west Wales already have second rate public transport services, and cutting rail services would create further problems.

"Losing the line to Pembroke Dock would be a serious blow to the local economy, particularly to South Pembrokeshire's tourism industry."

Mr. Griffiths added: "Richard Hope is a respected industry writer. He has been a transport journalist since 1964 and he covered the infamous Beeching cuts. We should not take his warnings lightly. That is why Plaid Cymru has written to the Labour Transport Minister asking for assurances about the long term future of services west of Carmarthen."

Cynog Dafis, AM for Mid and West Wales, who was also in Tenby on Monday, added: "Because railway funding is out of our hands, it makes having an integrated rail and road network very hard to come by."