Llangollen heritage railway welcomes back customers

A diesel engine ran a service to Berwyn Station two-and-a-half miles away on Friday morning

Llangollen heritage railway has welcomed back customers for the first time since September, having survived a key part of its business going into administration.

A diesel engine pulled out of the station at 11:00 BST on Friday for the first service to Berwyn Station.

The first steam locomotive is expected to re-enter service in early August.

The director of operations for the Llangollen Railway Trust, Mike Williams, said: "It's a fantastic day."

He added: "Everybody's worked really hard. The volunteers have stepped up to the plate. It's a great day - we'll be running trips again and, hopefully, the line will be saved."

For more than 45 years rail enthusiasts have been rebuilding 10 miles (16km) of track between Llangollen and Corwen, along with stations and necessary signalling work.

Customers at Llangollen Heritage Railway were welcomed back for the first time since last September

• Final stretch of 45-year rail project

• Heritage railway operator goes into receivership

• Rail line nears opening as 45-year track work ends

Earlier this year Llangollen Railway PLC, which ran the engineering works and owned key pieces of equipment used to operate the line, went into administration with debts running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

It led to an auction of assets, including carriages and other rolling stock, but the right to run the line, along with the necessary licences, remained in the hands of Llangollen Railway Trust.

"We've enough rolling stock and carriages that we can actually carry on and provide a service which we hope we can still please the public with," Mr Williams said.

Angela Cooke has been station master for eight years

Covid restrictions have meant work to complete the new station at Corwen has been delayed and that part of the line will not be reopen for some time.

"At the moment, we've still got on-going engineering works that we need to complete before we run the full line. So, at the moment, we're running a limited service only to Berwyn Station," Mr Williams added.

"As we complete the engineering works, we'll move onto Glyndyfrdwy and then on to Carrog."

Angela Cooke, who has worked at Llangollen Station for 13 years and has been station master for eight years, said: "It was lovely to come back, and to see that train go was very emotional. It was beautiful."