The Amlwch Branch

The Anglesey Central Railway was a 17.5-mile branch line connecting the port of Amlwch with the Holyhead main line at Gaerwen. It served Llangefni, the county town and still the island’s administrative centre, along the way. It opened fully in 1867 and although passenger services finished in 1964, freight continued to operate until 1993 on behalf of the Associated Octel concern at Amlwch. Various attempts have been made since then to reinvigorate the line as a local amenity and tourist attraction. Anglesey Central Railway Ltd has been set up to kick start its resurrection and they have obtained a 99-year lease from Network Rail to that end. The track is mostly still in place and efforts have been made to clear considerable sections of overgrown vegetation from a 7-mile stretch between Llangefni and Llannerch y Medd. Their progress is recorded on their website at Lein Amlwch (Anglesey Central Railway Ltd) - Hafan. Coming across random sections of the railway at Amlwch, Malltraeth Marsh and Dingle at Llangefni last week certainly gave us an impression of the major nature of the task they have taken on, but also provided a glimpse of what a wonderful addition it could eventually be to the railway heritage scene.