The Conwy Valley line () is a railway line in north-west Wales. It runs from Llandudno via Llandudno Junction () to Blaenau Ffestiniog, and was originally part of the London and North Western Railway, being opened in stages to 1879. The primary purpose of the line was to carry slate from the Ffestiniog quarries to a specially built quay at Deganwy for export by sea. The line also provided goods facilities for the market town of Llanrwst, and via the extensive facilities at Betws-y-Coed on the London to Holyhead A5 turnpike road it served many isolated communities in Snowdonia and also the developing tourist industry. Although only a little over between Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog, the journey takes over one hour, largely due to the sinuous and steeply graded nature of the route taken (particularly south of Betws-y-Coed). Most of the stations along the line are treated as request stops.
History
The first section from Llandudno Junction to Llanrwst (now called North Llanrwst) was built as the Conway and Llanrwst Railway and opened in 1863. The LNWR took over in 1863 and opened the extension to Betws-y-Coed in 1868.
The next extension was to Blaenau Ffestiniog to access the output of the large slate quarries there. At first the LNWR proposed a 2' narrow gauge railway via the steeply graded Lledr Valley to Blaenau Ffestiniog, this being the 'Bettws & Festiniog Railway'; authorisation was sought in November 1870. After construction began, it was decided that the extension would be built to standard gauge, allowing through running of trains. Between 1874 and 1879 the railway tunnel underneath Moel Dyrnogydd was bored, and in July 1879 a terminus was initially opened by the tunnel entrance. The line was subsequently extended by the best part of a mile to a terminus in the town, which opened 31 March 1881.
Blaenau Ffestiniog's other standard gauge railway, the Bala and Ffestiniog Railway, was closed to all traffic in 1961, and a portion was flooded in the creation of the Llyn Celyn reservoir. A rail connection was desired for the nuclear power station under construction at Trawsfynydd, and a connecting line was built from Blaenau Ffestiniog North to the site of the demolished Blaenau Ffestiniog Central station for freight use. With the reconstruction of the Ffestiniog Railway, passenger services were relocated to a new joint station on the site of the old Central station in 1982. Regular freight traffic to Trawsfynydd nuclear power station ceased in 1995, and the power station is being decommissioned.
The line's proximity to the River Conwy at its northern end has led to periodic problems with flooding over the years. In 2004, 2005 and 2019 floods resulted in prolonged closures whilst the trackbed and embankments were rebuilt - the 2004 floods putting the line out of action from early February until 22 May that year.
The line was again closed from 27 December 2015 for seven weeks, after the formation was damaged by floodwater in more than 100 places following heavy rain on Boxing Day.
A further closure occurred between February and April 2017 after Storm Doris, when a tree fell on the track near Pont-y-Pant. Engineers had to move over 300 tonnes of rock and fallen vegetation during the recovery work.
In March 2019 the line closed again due to severe damage to infrastructure caused by Storm Gareth. The railway line reopened on 24 July 2019, in time for the National Eisteddfod near Llanrwst.
Storm Ciara's heavy rainfall levels on 8-9 February 2020 once again caused damage to the trackbed near the Conwy estuary north of Llanrwst (closing the line yet again), with several sections having their ballast washed away. The line reopened on 28 September following repair work and additional mitigation work in vulnerable locations. Progress the repair work was partly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ffestiniog tunnel has also given infrastructure operator Network Rail difficulties in recent years, with two separate closures (October 2017 and again in January 2019) required to repair water damage to the tunnel roof and a subsequent rockfall.
Modern services
The line from Llandudno Junction to Blaenau is single track, and includes the longest single track railway tunnel in the United Kingdom (over ). The line's summit above sea level is located midway through the tunnel and the gradients either side of it are as steep as 1-in-47 (2.1%) on the southbound ascent through Pont-y-pant and 1-in-43 (2.3%) on the climb out of the terminus at Blaenau for northbound trains.