What's New at WalesRails?
Region North Wales Mid Wales South Wales National Network Route Sections Gazetteer of Stations About Wales	Trevithick 1804-2004 February 21 2004 marked the 200th anniversary of the first steam train to run on rails. The historic journey began in Merthyr Tydfil, and throughout 2004, a series of commemorative events took place, which can be reviewed here. WalesRails does not have the resources to research relatives who worked on the railway, plan itineraries or provide detailed histories of railway companies and branches. Some of this information is provided in the relevant WalesRails pages, but where this isn't the case, there is a message board where queries can be posted for other visitors to answer. There is also a site-specific search engine, where keywords can be used to find information.	Preserved: Standard gauge Narrow gauge WalesRails: The Grand Tour Official Websites What's New Back to Welcome page

The thumbnail maps on each of the WalesRails pages now all indicate the location of the route or railway covered by that page, a facility previously restricted to preserved railways only.

National Network times
The period of validity of published timetables has changed and do not fall into their usual Summer and winter designations. The current timetables run from December 10th 2011 to May 13 2012.

• Wales and Borders and Cardiff Railway Company services in Wales are now operated by Arriva Trains Wales which took over the franchise on December 7 2003. These pages have expanded so much that they tend to take some time to load. Both sites have now been split into two sections, so that the visitor can hasten access by choosing which section to open. For those with faster connections, the full version remains available.
• Arriva Trains Wales now serves a new station at Llanharan on the mainline between Cardiff and Bridgend
• On February 6 2008, the Western Valleys Branch between Ebbw Vale and Cardiff opened.
• Wrexham and Shropshire Train Company began services between Wrexham and London Marylebone on May 28 2008, and on December 8 introduced a more frequent service and cut the fastest service by 28 minutes. Unfortunately, the company has folded, and its last services ran on January 29 2011.
• On December 15 2008, Arriva Trains Wales introduced an early-morning service between Holyhead and Cardiff which cuts the journey time to four-and-a-half hours by running nonstop between Shrewsbury and Newport.

Preserved Railways

• The Llanberis Lake Railway, Bala Lake Railway, Corris Railway Gwili Railway, the Talyllyn and the Pontypool and Blaenavon, Vale of Rheidol, Welsh Highland Heritage Railway, Llangollen Railway, Welshpool and Llanfair Railway and Dean Forest Railway pages have been updated for 2012, while the Ffestiniog Railway and Brecon Mountain Railway pages carry Winter 2012 information only. They will be updated as soon as possible.
• The Barry Island Railway has been forced to quit its site at Barry and has moved to join the Garw Valley Railway at Pontycymmer.

Finally, the usual reminders

• In response to the FAQ: Is it possible to make a circular tour of Wales using the railway? The answer is yes and no. There are two 'loops' of track - one in North Wales, and the other in the south, linked by a length of common track, but rather than a circular tour it is more like a grotesquely-shaped figure-of-eight. Another possible objection is that about a fifth of the 500-mile circumnavigation takes place in England. However, you can judge for yourself by accessing WalesRails: the Grand Tour page.
• The impact of transport on the environment are considered briefly in Railways and Green Issues: while details of the Greenway scheme, designed to promote sustainable tourism in South Pembrokeshire, can also be found
• As well as selecting by category/location, information on routes and locations can also be obtained by selecting the Gazetteer of stations, which lists stations in alphabetical order with links to the page where further details will be found, or selecting Routes and Branches to access the entire national network, which is broken down into shorter sections, with links to the relevant WalesRails page.
• Freedom of Wales Flexi-Pass tickets allow bus and rail travel throughout Wales, and free or discounted admission to a number of attractions, including eight preserved railways.

While it is believed that all links have been tested and are working properly, there will be inevitably some that may have been missed, or may have been broken during the update process. Notification of any problems would be welcomed by the author at WalesRails. Thanks!

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Copyright © 1996/7/8/9/2000/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12 by Deryck Lewis. All rights reserved.
Page created July 14 1996; Redesigned March 29 1999; Last updated January 24 2012
If you have any suggestions, comments, or glitches to report, please contact the author at WalesRails