Railway joins forces with council to upgrade historic footpath

Alongside the £1.25 million upgrade to Harbour Station in Porthmadog, the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway is teaming up with Gwynedd Council to improve the footpath that runs alongside the railway on the top of the historic 200 year-old Cob embankment. 

Vegetation and accumulated debris alongside the wall will be removed, potholes and puddles filled, and the footpath surface renewed with locally-sourced slate chippings and fines. A new fence will be erected to separate the footpath from the railway lines for the first 300 metres of the Cob from the Porthmadog end to a point beyond the new signal box. The fence panels will be attractive metal railings of "bowtop" style, one metre high. 

The improvement to the footpath surface is being jointly funded by Gwynedd Council and the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways. The contract for the work has been awarded to the North Wales Fencing Co of Llandegai. The cost of the new fence will be borne entirely by the Ffestiniog Railway & Welsh Highland Railways.

The mile long footpath is currently closed for track relaying as part of the Harbour Station improvement project. 

Dewi Wyn Owen, Gwynedd Council’s Senior Rights of Way Officer, said: "This is too good an opportunity to miss out on, taking advantage of the current situation regarding the footpath on the Cob."

Porthmadog Town Councillor Selwyn Griffiths said: "'I am glad that Gwynedd Council is working with the Ffestiniog Railway to upgrade the surface of this footpath across the Cob. This path is very well used by both the local community and visitors to the town as you can see some of the best scenery in Wales as you walk across it. Like numerous people in the locality I look forward to seeing the path reopening"

Fellow councillor Jason Humphreys added: "I think it's excellent that a wider consideration of the project has been made by the Ffestiniog Railway and Gwynedd Council. Those who have been inconvenienced by the footpath's temporary closure will realise the benefit when it re-opens." 

Work is due to begin in the next two weeks and the footpath is expected to reopen to the public before the daily train services restart on the 22 March.