LUXURY CARS NORTH WALES

Tuesday 20 July 2010

Motorhome Cliffhanger - Top Gear Series 15 Episode 4 - BBC Two

Monday 12 July 2010

The main arteries for North Wales are A494, running from Queensferry (near the English border) to Dolgellau. The road begins from the M56 motorway, connecting North Wales with Chester and Manchester Airport, both in England. More importantly the A55, which runs from Holyhead (for ferry connections to Ireland), Conwy, Llandudno Junction and Rhyl to a junction with the M53 motorway near Chester.

One of the oldest roads the A5 runs from the port of Holyhead south east to Bangor then down through Snowdonia to Betws-y-Coed, Corwen, Llangollen and over the English border south of Chirk. This route has served as the main passage for London-Dublin traffic for many years although its usage has been superseded by the A55 coast road. It's now more famed as a scenic route and notorious for many Bank Holiday traffic jams.

Two routes serve as the main North to South links. The A483 begins near Swansea and takes a north-easterly route to Ammanford, Llandeilo, Llandovery, Llanwrtyd Wells, Builth Wells, Llandrindod Wells, Newtown, Welshpool and Wrexham, finally ending at Chester.

The A470 begins in Cardiff Bay and passes through Cardiff following a north-north western route on to Pontypridd, Abercynon, Merthyr Tydfil, Brecon, Builth Wells, Rhayader, Llangurig, Llanidloes, Llandinam, Commins Coch, Mallwyd, Trawsfynydd, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Dolwyddelan, Betws-y-Coed and terminates at Llandudno. It is a dual carriageway between Cardiff and Merthyr (where it meets the Heads of the Valleys Road, the A465), and the section of this route into Cardiff is heavily used.

cars in north wales blogspot

Tram

The only surviving tram service within Wales is the Great Orme Tramway, a cable hauled tramway in Llandudno which survives as a tourist attraction.

Cardiff, Swansea and Newport had extensive tram systems until the mid 20th century. Plans were mooted for a modern tram system to serve Cardiff's urban areas in late 1990s but these were shelved due to the costs of building and maintaining such a system.

The world's first passenger tram service was the Mumbles Railway in Swansea, initially horse-drawn but later operated by steam and electric trams.

The Llandudno and Colwyn Bay tramway, demolished in 1956, has a preservation society which has restored some original carriages.

Heritage railways

Wales has a large number of heritage railways. Some of these were former industrial narrow gauge railways, such as the Corris Railway. Others were formed from portions disused standard gauge railways, either kept as standard gauge (e.g. Barry Island Railway) or converted to narrow gauge (e.g. Brecon Mountain Railway). Some of the narrow gauge heritage railways are marketed as the Great Little Trains of Wales^.

Notable heritage railways include:

The Talyllyn Railway, the first railway in the world to be saved by a preservation society
The Snowdon Mountain Railway, the only rack and pinion railway in the United Kingdom
The Ffestiniog Railway, the oldest surviving railway company in the world
The Vale of Rheidol Railway, the last steam railway owned by British Rail until 1989

cars in north wales

Arriva Trains Wales

Arriva Trains Wales is a train operating company that operates urban and inter urban passenger services in Wales and the Welsh Marches. Its busiest stations are Cardiff Central, Cardiff Queen Street and Newport. Routes are also concentrated on Shrewsbury, Crewe, Chester and Wrexham General.