During the construction process, the Directors had given consideration to extending the line to Whitland; the isolation from the national railway network was a limitation. At the same time the standard gauge Manchester and Milford Railway was under construction, and, despite difficulties it was experiencing, it was possible to conceive of the Pembroke and Tenby Railway linking with the M&MR and forming a long distance strategic standard gauge line by-passing the Great Western Railway and reaching the great manufacturing districts of the north-west of England.