Bala Lake Railway Extension Approved

[John Luxton]

The extension into of the Bala Lake Railway into the town centre has finally been been approved by planners, having been rejected in 2023.
Work can on the railway once work on the water treatment works is concluded in March 2025.

Bala: Heritage steam railway extension plans approved

Bala Lake Railway hopes to double passenger numbers by extending the line to the centre of the town.

www.bbc.co.uk

Eryri national park - also known as Snowdonia - gave the go ahead for the Bala Lake Railway to run to the centre of Bala, Gwynedd.

The scheme includes a new terminus building and will see an estimated rise in passengers, from 34,000 in 2023 to 60,000.

Director of planning, Jonathan Cawley, told the national park's planning committee on Wednesday: “The development would bring a new tourist attraction to the area that would be of benefit to the surrounding areas and to the town of Bala."

 

[shredder1]

What marvelous news .

 

[Narrowgauge725]

Great news

 

[Llanigraham]

EXCELLENT!!!

 

[DelW]

The BBC piece refers to improvements to a water treatment works, as quoted by the OP. Presumably this should refer to a wastewater (aka sewage) treatment works, as its inadequacy to cope with additional load was the major factor in the earlier rejection.

 

[D1015]

Excellent news, I love Bala and the surrounding area so to see this finalyl be approved gets me excited Being able to steam down from Bala to Llanuchlyn, have a look round the museum and engine sheds plus perhaps go for a meal at the Eagles pub before a train back to Bala will give the BLR a desired 'somewhere to somewhere' status some lines sadly lack.

 

[E759]

Fantastic!

 

[timj]

Good but it seems daft that they have to wait until sewage treatment works *finished* before they can *start* extension. Surely even if it was started immediately it would be a while before it would be finished and the 'terrible influx of visitors' arrives to drown out the local waterworks!

 

[John Luxton]

Good but it seems daft that they have to wait until sewage treatment works *finished* before they can *start* extension. Surely even if it was started immediately it would be a while before it would be finished and the 'terrible influx of visitors' arrives to drown out the local waterworks!

It appears work on the waterworks will be completed by March 2025 little more than 6 months away hardly a long wait to get things started.

 

[Cambrian359]

It appears work on the waterworks will be completed by March 2025 little more than 6 months away hardly a long wait to get things started.

Seems like a completely pointless and unnecessary restriction to place on the project which has already been delayed by unnecessary objections.
If a couple of extra toilets in the town were really going to overwhelm the system perhaps they should be placing emergency flushing restrictions on its residents!

 

[stuu]

Seems like a completely pointless and unnecessary restriction to place on the project which has already been delayed by unnecessary objections.
If a couple of extra toilets in the town were really going to overwhelm the system perhaps they should be placing emergency flushing restrictions on its residents!

Perhaps the planners don't trust the water company?

 

[JKF]

Haven’t they already started some of the work on the formation already? Great that it can finally go ahead.

 

[AndrewE]

It appears work on the waterworks will be completed by March 2025 little more than 6 months away hardly a long wait to get things started.

but the extra load on the sewage works won't materialise until the raillway starts operating... so why stop the railway using its non-running season to get on with the extension? That delay just pushes the railway's return on investment back, maybe by another whole season (year.) Sounds very like sour grapes to me.

Haven’t they already started some of the work on the formation already? Great that it can finally go ahead.

Excellent news if that is the case.
p.s. https://www.balalakerailwaytrust.org.uk/weve-got-it/ says

While the permission comes with raft of conditions which have to be satisfied before work commences it is exciting to know that this is now definitely going to happen.

 

[railfan99]

Terrific that this is going ahead.

Combined with the K&ESR Robertsbridge approved extension, it's living proof that England's heritage railways can still in some cases extend.

The trifecta will be if the GCR's 'reunification' project receives final planning approval(s).

Congratulations to all.

 

[The exile]

Terrific that this is going ahead.

Combined with the K&ESR Robertsbridge approved extension, it's living proof that England's heritage railways can still in some cases extend.

The trifecta will be if the GCR's 'reunification' project receives final planning approval(s).

Congratulations to all.

Surely it’s proof that Wales’s heritage railways can extend?!

 

[timj]

but the extra load on the sewage works won't materialise until the raillway starts operating... so why stop the railway using its non-running season to get on with the extension? That delay just pushes the railway's return on investment back, maybe by another whole season (year.)

Exactly! surely now is the time to get going, with the whole off-season stretching conveniently just ahead, why waste that time to start in March when the extra load isn't there yet.

 

[Meerkat]

but the extra load on the sewage works won't materialise until the raillway starts operating... so why stop the railway using its non-running season to get on with the extension? That delay just pushes the railway's return on investment back, maybe by another whole season (year.) Sounds very like sour grapes to me.

Pretty standard planning condition. What happens if the sewage work hits a major snag or the work is canned for whatever reason?
Reckon councils have long ago learned not to trust anything that they can’t see on the ground!

 

[High Dyke]

Video report, courtesy of the Green Signals team.

 

[Flying Phil]

A good video from the Green Signals team. An exciting project that will be being built over the next few months and years.