Community rail partnerships (CRPs) and station groups in Wales are gearing up to mark 200 years of passenger rail travel this year as the UK marks the historic anniversary of the advent of the modern rail.
As part of the celebrations, Transport for Wales held a launch event in Aberystwyth on 23 January, kicking off a year of exciting events around the country, with 3 Counties Connected CRP, Cambrian Railway Partnership, South West Wales Connected, Conwy Valley & North Wales Coast CRP and Heart of Wales Line CRP in attendance at the event, hosted at Vale of Rheidol Railway.
While the Railway 200 milestone marks 200 years since the first passenger steam journey on the Stockton & Darlington Railway on 27 September 1825, Wales can rightly claim a huge part in the build up to that historic journey.
In 1804, Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick designs the Pen-y-Darren locomotive which pulled 10 tonnes of coal 10 miles from the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil to Abercynon. Then, in 1807, the Swansea and Mumbles Railway saw the world’s first fare paying passengers, with horses pulling their carriage along the rail tracks, proving a widely popular experience.
Check out this short clip from ITV News on the day of the event in Aberystwyth.
Dr Louise Moon, Transport for Wales’ Railway 200 Programme Lead said: “We’re incredibly excited to be sharing so much of our history across Wales within our communities, telling the stories of innovation, grit and determination.
“Railway 200 celebrates so much of our social and cultural history and how the railways transformed our country and made it what it is today. “Towns like Aberystwyth grew massively with the arrival of the railway so it’s great to be launching the year of events here.
“We want to inspire a new generation not just with our proud history but through science, technology and innovation that is taking place right now as we are going through the next major transformation of our network which will connect future generations within Wales.”
Find out more about Transport for Wales’ work in the community here, and how the train operator will be marking Railway 200 here.
