Looking a gift horse in the mouth
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BRITISH RAIL has mixed feelings about a new 13/4-mile length of track near Colwyn Bay with which the Welsh Office has provided it at a cost of f1.5m. It has been made necessary by the incorporation of the original track into the new 19-mile A55 Expressway which is being built from Abergele to Bangor to link with the M56.
The road will stimulate competition from lorries and coaches but British Rail has benefited by a new freight terminal at Llandudno Junction "on the house" and a new booking hall at Colwyn Bay, also paid for largely from public funds. It is now up to the railways to use the new facilities to beat the competition on merit instead of whining about their rivals' "free" tracks which road users have dearly bought for everyone's benefit.
Indeed, a wedding reception has been held on a train from Llandudno Junction, where guests were handed glasses of champagne to Blaenau Ffestiniog. What's more, the carriage was cleaned. British Rail has really got the bit between its teeth.