Anglesey Central Railway

The Welsh Assembly Government, in partnership with Network Rail, commissioned a feasibility study into the reopening of the line, which started in early 2011.

[1] The railway branches off westbound from the North Wales Coast Line at Gaerwen, and turns northeast to descend into Malltraeth Marsh (Welsh: Cors Ddyga), passing below Thomas Telford's A5 and the A55 just before Holland Arms station at Pentre Berw.

The railway continues north-west over easier terrain towards Llangwyllog and Llanerchymedd, where it turns north, running to the east of Llyn Alaw toward Rhosgoch.

[11] After raising this capital, the line was opened to Llanerchymedd in 1866, with the temporary station at Llangefni replaced by a permanent structure half a mile further on.

The Fairlie engine Mountaineer was in use on the line in April 1866, but by October 1867 it was in use on the Neath and Brecon Railway, of which Dickson was also the contractor and whose traffic he was working.

[14] Mona Mine, operating the copper works at Parys Mountain, switched from exporting ore by sea to by railway in 1865, two years before it reached Amlwch.

[13][16] The financial situation restricted the company's ambitions: As regards the line to Port of Amlwch, nothing ought to be done till there is certainty by guarantee or otherwise of sufficient traffic to pay a proper interest on the capital to be expended in making it.

[27] In the early morning of 29 November 1877, heavy rain caused the dam of the Rhodgeidio mill near Llanerchymedd to breach, and the surge of water washed away the wooden Caemawr bridge over the Afon Alaw.

Coordinating this limited timetable with the main line services through Gaerwen was difficult, and passengers could face a long wait on occasions.

Holland Arms' functionality as a staff station was only useful for the Red Wharf Bay branch, but a signalman was still required for all Amlwch services.

[31][33] The July 1924 timetable showed eight passenger trains each way between Amlwch and Gaerwen, with the Red Wharf Bay railmotor operating to Llangefni three times a day.

[36] A dam was built across the Cefni river north of Llangefni in the late 1940s to increase the water supply available to the island.

[38] Under British Rail, many passenger services on the Amlwch branch operated through to Bangor, removing the need to change trains at Gaerwen.

[40] A bromine extraction plant was opened in Amlwch in 1953 by Associated Ethyl (soon renamed Associated Octel, and later part of the Great Lakes Chemical Corporation).

[44][45] The company built a light railway through the town to Amlwch station, and a marshalling yard for exchanging freight wagons.

[28] Local freight services ceased, and the electric staff system was withdrawn, so that only one train could be on the branch at a time, although that was sufficient for Octel's requirements.

This was built to receive oil from tankers moored offshore in the deep waters off Amlwch, before it was pumped to the Stanlow Refinery in Cheshire.

[18] After a public meeting in Amlwch to gauge local support, Isle of Anglesey Railways Ltd (IoAR) was established in 1991 with the aim of restoring passenger services to the line.

Special trains ran from Bangor to a temporary station at Amlwch on the spring and August bank holidays of 1992, and the 125th anniversary of the line's opening (a total of eight return trips).

[57] The project's viability was discussed with the Welsh Development Agency and Anglesey District Council, followed by negotiations in July 1993 with Railfreight Distribution to purchase the line.

Support for the railway option was demonstrated by a charter train named the Lein Amlwch Venturer, hauled by 6024 King Edward I, which ran from Crewe to Gaerwen junction on Saturday 23 January.

[69] Five months later Railtrack was placed in administration, and ownership of Britain's railways (including the Amlwch line) was transferred to Network Rail in October 2002.

[71] The managing director of Anglesey County Council wrote a letter of support in principle to Anglesey Central Railway (2006) Ltd in January 2006, but councillors voted in favour of a "cycle, walking and bridle path route" in March 2007, contributing £5,000 toward a feasibility study days before ACR(2006) Ltd were told that the lease of the railway from Network Rail had been approved.

[73] The line remains property of Network Rail, with Anglesey County Council a statutory consultee on the future use of the route.

Network Rail officially designated the branch "out of use" for operational purposes in January 2009,[81] after consultation with English Welsh & Scottish, who favoured its restoration to a working railway with the opportunity for freight traffic.

[83] In 2009 the Welsh Assembly Government asked Network Rail to conduct feasibility studies on two former track stretches in Wales, one of those being the line from Bangor to Llangefni.

Councillor Clive McGregor was optimistic this could provide an economic stimulus for Anglesey, along with further proposals to extend passenger traffic between Llangefni and Amlwch.

The track, bridges, associated earthworks, and the station at Llangefni were examined by engineers in order to decide whether they were still fit for purpose, or would need to be updated.

With the alignment having succumbed to heavy encroachment from vegetation, an environmental report would have to be drawn up to limit the potential damage that could be caused to wildlife.

Mike Gallop, coordinating the project on behalf of Network Rail, warned that bringing back trains to the line would be "tough".