Network of ‘creepy’ underground tunnels abandoned after dynamite tragedy over 100 YEARS ago transformed and reopened
A NETWORK of abandoned underground tunnels have been transformed and reopened to the public.
The Tregarth Railway Tunnels in Wales were once part of a passenger railway line.
And they have now been opened up to a new generation of travellers.
The 4.25-mile single-track connecting Bangor and Bethesda was authorised in 1880.
It climbed over 300ft from its junction with the North Wales main line at Bangor.
But it required two viaducts and two tunnels to navigate rivers and hillsides.
Messrs Thomas Nelson & Co of Carlisle were appointed at a cost of around £70,000 to construct the route for the London & North Western Railway.
There were two tunnels at Tregarth – No.1 Tunnel at just 27yds and No.2 Tunnel – known as Tynal Tywyll – stretching for 297yds.
Those tunnels were blasted through the rock by dynamite – a dangerous job with two deaths linked to the construction of the line.
Isaac Jones, 25, from Ceredigion died after blowing off both of his legs while testing a piece of dynamite on March 2, 1883.
Roland Evans, 35, died after being consumed by a fall of rock and brickwork after a period of heavy rain while working on the line on March 12, 1885.
The line opened to passengers in June of 1884 and was first used by goods trains in the summer of 1885.
There were two smaller stations on the route at Tregarth and Felin Hen.
The passenger train service was six trains each way daily, but railmotors – a lightweight railcar – were introduced in 1908.
The service was increased to 16 daily, 9 on Sunday by the 1930s.
After World War Two the passenger use of the line had reduced considerably.
More convenient buses to Bangor used the Telford road and passenger trains were withdrawn on December 3, 1951.
Occasional excursions ran after that date as the area had a certain beauty, but the line closed completely on October 7, 1963.
This saw the tunnels abandoned – seemingly lost for ever.
But the success of the Lon Las Ogwen path for cyclists and walkers opened up the opportunity for a new future.
Initially users were forced to detour around the tunnels using the A5 instead.
But with 100,000 people using the path Welsh Government and Cyngor Gwynedd funded the restoration of the tunnels.
The missing sections were completed in May 2017 – opening up the tunnels to a new generation of travellers.