Gwili Railway Abergwili Junction Station Development

Tender description

The Gwili Steam Railway own an 8 mile section of the former Carmarthen to Aberystwyth trackbed, from Abergwili to Llanpumpsaint in West Wales. The primarily volunteer-operated railway currently runs over a 4¼ mile section on the lower section of line, retaining a part of Welsh heritage for over 30,000 visitors annually.Since the southern extension to Abergwili (Carmarthen) opened in 2017, a number of railway societies operating on the Gwili; namely the Swansea Vale Railway, Caerphilly Railway and Gwili Railway Vintage Carriages Trust merged to form a single charity called the ‘Welsh Railways Trust’. This trust has successfully secured an agreement with the National Railway Museum to be custodian of the last remaining Welsh built steam locomotive – ‘Taff Vale Railway No.28’. A dedicated group of volunteers have been fundraising and undertaking restoration works to return this locomotive to steam once more. In addition, the trust are restoring a number of welsh wooden railway carriages, with the overall aim of operating a complete ‘Welsh Vintage Train’.After securing grant funding, groundworks commenced in late 2019 at the Abergwili terminus, to level the site ready for construction of a carriage shed. This is needed to enable to secure housing of the railway’s rolling stock for both security reasons and protect these historic items from the typically harsh Welsh weather. Some of these over 100 years old have been spent outside exposed to the elements.We have secured further grant funding to develop our southern terminus at Abergwili Junction Station. This station site located between the A40 / A485 and Glangwili Hospital, currently has no direct public access. Located at the southern limit of our land and abutting main roads, this location provides the ideal location for our main station to be built. The overall master plan for the station including display sheds etc. are ambitious and will be delivered in a phased manner as finance permits. However, to start this process, we wish to commence the first stage of the works to construct a new access junction of the A485 dual carriageway, car park and foundation works for the proposed carriage shed and tenders are invited to deliver these works.