These days Express Motors doesn't provide an even half-decent service "upstream" of Betws-y-Coed. It used to be kind of OK with feasible connections at Blaenau to/from Dolgellau and Porthmadog but cuts by Gwynedd County Council have brought an end to that. Integration with Snowdon Sherpa and other local bus services at Betws-y-Coed has never been good.
As a more than occasional user of the line to get to Dolwyddelan, I find the current train service OK as the final/initial leg of a longer journey. In recent times I or family members have travelled to/from Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Edinburgh, London, Birmingham, Truro, Cardiff, ... . There is significant tourist usage in the summer - I have experienced "standing room only" when boarding at Llandudno Junction. However a train every three hours is too sparse to provide conveniently for many local requirements - e.g. getting from Dolwyddelan to a doctor's appointment in Blaenau or to Llandudno for shopping.
This isn't a plea for more trains, rather a perspective on the complexities of providing decent public transport in one sparsely populated rural area.