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Monday 9 Feb 2004

CONWY VALLEY RAIL LINE IS A WASHOUT

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Network Rail has described the Conwy Valley rail line from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Llandudno a complete washout, following the floods that devastated the area last week. Floods in the town of Llanrwst made the national television news. At one time North Llanrwst station resembled a canal rather than a railway when water levels reached the top of the platform. It was only when the water levels started to drop that Network Rail engineers realised the extent of the damage on other parts of the line. Over the 10 mile stretch between Tal-y-Cafn and Betws-y-Coed there are approximately 20 places where the embankment has been totally washed away leaving the track dangling in mid-air. The ballast supporting the track and the ground underneath it ended up in nearby fields, exposing stretches of track up to 40 metres long with gaping great holes underneath, some as much as three metres deep. Now Network Rail has begun the mammoth task of rebuilding the railway, but as earthwork engineer Gerry Manley says: “This is going to be a long job. We need to bring in a huge amount of hardcore to rebuild the embankments before we begin to think about re-laying the tracks themselves. We’ll work flat out to get it done as quickly as possible but we could be talking a couple of months before trains are running again. If we can get it done sooner, we will.” - more - Conwy - 2 In the meantime passengers should contact national rail enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 to check on replacement bus services.