Freight trains return to North Wales rail line for first time in years after quarry upgrade
A train carrying hundreds of tons of stone recently travelled from North Wales to Liverpool
Freight trains have returned to the North Wales main line after a quarry company invested £300,000 in upgrading their loading facilities.
A train ran from Penmaenmawr to Liverpool carrying hundreds of tons of stone just before Christmas.
It was the first train from the railhead since 2012 and the first freight train on the coast line since trains carrying nuclear flasks from Wylfa power station ceased in 2019.
The upgrading work has been carried out as part of Hanson Aggregates’ rail strategy to reduce vehicle movements and cut associated CO2 emissions.
Hanson have invested approximately £300,000 to repair, renew, and refurbish the facility.
This includes upgrades to the railhead conveyor that was last used in 2012, before which the rail link was used on a regular basis to supply ballast to Network Rail.
The first train, operated by GB Railfreight, consisted of 23 wagons which are capable of carrying up to 80 tons of material with each service capable of carrying the equivalent of 110 lorry loads.
After shunting the train into the sidings and positioning the wagons under the loading hopper the train later transported stone from Penmaenmawr to Hanson’s Tuebrook depot in Liverpool.
Aggregates regional director Becky Murphy said it was a trial to test equipment and uncover any operational or logistical issues in the supply chain within the quarry and to the railhead.
She said the aim was to load one train per week to deliver rail-borne aggregates into markets in the north-west of England.
The volume of material transported in each load will be dependent upon its destination and the capacity of the network.
Ms Murphy added: "The reopening of our Penmaenmawr railhead is the first step towards re-establishing the long-term economic viability of the quarry, which also underpins the supply of asphalt and concrete products and so supports a number of local jobs both directly and indirectly."
Meanwhile at Llandudno Junction vegetation has been cleared from sidings behind platform four at the station.
The clearance work has been carried out to prepare the area for a loading point where waste material from slate quarries at Blaenau Ffestiniog and Bethesda will be loaded.
Trains from the sidings would then be transported to cement works in Derbyshire for processing.
