THE Ebbw Vale to Cardiff rail line saga is fast turning into a farce.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, the bunting was ordered, the children and choirs booked and the dignitaries all lined up to attend the official opening of the first passenger service on the line for 40 years.

An embarrassing cancellation followed when it became apparent the line could not open for various reasons.

Since then the recriminations have flown back and forth between the various parties involved and the whole saga is just going on and on and on.

Blaenau Gwent borough council initially took a lot of the flak, now it is determined to lay the blame at the door of Network Rail with criticism of the Assembly thrown in for good measure.

For the rest of us these spats are almost irrelevant.

What we want is a definitive answer about when the rail line is going to open and when passengers will be able to start relying on it.

We can then focus on opening the line to Newport, which in our view is what should have happened from the word go.