Llangollen Railway prepares to make a return to Corwen

the Llangollen Railway Trust are preparing for the official opening of a new station at Corwen, scheduled to take place on June 1.

This will be followed by a threeday special event from June 2-4, which will feature steam and diesel locomotives from the Llangollen fleet operating between Llangollen and Corwen – the first time that passenger services will have operated over the two-and-a-half mile section of line between Carrog and Corwen since the Llangollen Railway’s temporary station at Corwen East was closed in 2018.

A gauging train, hauled by A1A Locomotive 31271 Stratford 18402001, was operated through to Corwen on April 18, with the tests deemed to have been successful. Work will now concentrate on completing the remaining construction works at the new station, with crew training and familiarisation of the extended route due to take place throughout May.

For the past five years (including the periods when the railway was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic), train services on the line have terminated at Carrog while major works have been carried out to build a station at Corwen, with the new terminus now located close to the town centre.

The railway was originally extended to a temporary station at Corwen East, on the outskirts of the town, in 2014, however, it was always intended that a new terminus station befitting of the railway would be constructed closer to Corwen town centre.

The new station has been built on an embankment that has had to be widened to house the island platform capable of accommodating eight-coach trains and two running lines – one serving each platform face. Thousands of tons of earth have been used to prepare the land and widen the formation, recovered from the embankment of another long-disused railway line that once also served the town.

In addition to widening the embankment, a large gap in the embankment had to be filled with thousands of tonnes of material to enable the track at Corwen East to be connected to the track in the station area.

The new station is located alongside a large car park, and a portable building serves as a shop and information point. Waiting rooms and toilet facilities are located on the platform beneath an impressive canopy protecting visitors from the elements.

Llangollen Railway Trust 31271 Stratford 1840-2001 stands at Corwen station on April 18, having worked a gauging train along the line to the new terminus. The trials, ahead of an official opening of the extension and station on June 1, were deemed to have been successful.