A wnaiff y Gweinidog amlinellu sut mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn cynorthwyo ymdrechion lleol i gefnogi rheilffyrdd treftadaeth?
I recognise that heritage railways depend heavily upon their volunteers, and I have met some of them on visits to Llangollen. They are highly motivated and passionate people whose tireless work safeguards this aspect of our history and provides significant tourist attractions across Wales. I was very pleased to learn that the Llangollen and Corwen Railway recently won an Infrastructure Award for Corwen Station at the Heritage Railway Association Awards, to go alongside last year’s Go North Wales Attraction of the Year award.
I know that the Ffestiniog and Tal-y-llyn Railways were active partners in the bid to inscribe the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales World Heritage Site. I am pleased to see that both railways retain a strong involvement post inscription, reflecting their dedication to our heritage.
The Welsh Government is pleased to support these railways by providing funding and marketing exposure.
The Ffestiniog railway is featured in the most recent Visit Wales advertising campaign, Awydd Antur, which has had TV, digital and social media coverage.
The Visit Wales social media team recently filmed at the Vale of Rheidol Railway and published it to channels with over 1.2 million subscribers. We also publish dedicated railway content on the Visit Wales website:
Visit Wales is currently in conversation with content influencers, with a view to procuring YouTube content that will feature heritage railways in the future.
These railways are eligible for a free listing on the Visit Wales website where they can manage their own listing to promote latest activities, offers and seasonal services.
Visit Wales also provides funding to heritage railways. For example, in 2018 £1,869,100 was awarded to the Vale of Rheidol Railway, under the Tourism Attractor Destination Programme, for a project to refurbish their station at Aberystwyth. This included a new platform, booking office and toilet block; a storage building for their coaching stock; and conversion of the existing engine shed into a new steam engine museum which will open in May 2024.
In addition the business was awarded £128,000 in 2018/19 under the Tourism Amenity Investment Support scheme, towards a £160,000 project to improve and expand the vehicle parking facilities at their station in Devils Bridge.
Under the same programme, Visit Wales provided support of £1,084,368 to the Welsh Highland Railway towards the construction of a new station at Caernarfon.
During the early Covid pandemic, Cadw helped to distribute financial support from the Welsh Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund. Many heritage railways received support through that fund during 2020 and 2021, including the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway Company (£1.4 million), Vale of Rheidol Railway (£650,000), Brecon Mountain Railway (£254,000) and Gwili Railway Company (£241,000).