Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway - History

History

The Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr Railway, earlier known as the Carmarthenshire Tramroad was established in 1802 in Wales by an Act of Parliament. It began running trains in 1803, the initial line being a plateway, with motive power provided by a pair of horses. The Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr Railway is claimed to be the Oldest Public Railway in Britain. Although the Surrey Iron Railway was the first to be incorporated, it is believed that the LMMR was the first to open to traffic.

The Carmarthenshire Tramroad closed in 1844 but the railway reopened in 1883 operated by the newly formed Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr Railway Co. That company disappeared in 1922 on being absorbed into the Great Western Railway, which itself was absorbed into British Railways in 1947. Throughout the twentieth century the line continued as a main artery for coal distribution from the Gwendraeth valley, until the closure of Cynheidre Colliery in 1989.

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