Llangollen Railway rides again as railcars prove popular
THE first train on the revived Llangollen Railway departed the Denbighshire market town’s riverside station for Berwyn on Friday, July 9.
Worked by Llangollen Railcars’ Class 108 DMU, comprising DMBS No. 51933 and DTC
No. 54504, the train, which departed at 11.00, carried 44 passengers. The next trip, the 12.00, had 34 passengers, providing a welcome start on what is a low-cost but attractive operation.
A further boost has come from the Welsh Government following the awarding of a £143,290 grant from the Wales Cultural Recovery Fund Phase 2. The funding enables the Llangollen Railway Trust (LRT) to have confidence in the ability to employ staff for essential positions which allow the railway to resume operations.
Crucially, the award secures the railway’s immediate future, certainly into 2022 and beyond if visitor numbers recover from the pandemic and generate revenues to cover the overheads.
Ministerial visit
The line hosted a visit by the Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden MS, on July 20. After travelling in the Class 109 Wickham DMU to Berwyn, she met members of the board and the volunteer youth group to learn how they gain skills while undertaking tasks under supervision. At Berwyn, the arrangements for external repairs to the historic station house was explained, which will allow for the property to be let to holidaymakers who would like to stay at a heritage railway station. Beyond Berwyn, remedial trackwork has been undertaken within Berwyn tunnel. At the time of writing, the DMU service was set to be extended to Glyndyfrdwy soon. On completion of the west end point work repairs at Glyndyfrdwy, a steam service is due operate on Fridays to Sundays, with a mixture of steam and diesel traction on Mondays to Thursdays. GWR 2-8-0 No. 3802 will be the motive power on steam days. Services are set to return to Carrog in due course. Completion of the 10 miles through to Corwen is now scheduled for March 2022, by which time it is hoped the platform waiting room will be complete with toilets. Trackwork at Corwen requires a ballast drop and tamping to finish. A new website for LRT is expected to go live shortly. Regrettably, the LRT says the plc’s administrator has retained control of the old one and has refused to take it down, which has led to confusion. Call 01978 860979 for details.