North Wales Coast Line

The North Wales Coast Line, also known as the North Wales Main Line, is the railway line from Crewe to Holyhead. Virgin Trains consider their services along it to be a spur of the West Coast Main Line. The first section from Crewe to Chester was built by the Chester and Crewe Railway and absorbed by the Grand Junction Railway shortly before opening in 1840. The remainder was built between 1844 and 1850 by the Chester and Holyhead Railway Company as the route of the Irish Mail services to Dublin. The line was later incorporated in the London and North Western Railway. Between Chester and Saltney Junction, the line was, from the start, used by trains of the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway later to be incorporated in the Great Western Railway.

In April 2006, Network Rail organised its maintenance and train control operations into "26 Routes". The main line through Crewe forms part of Route 18 (The West Coast Main Line). The North Wales Coast Line from Crewe (North Junction) to Chester and North Wales has been designated Route 22 (North Wales and Borders) and this includes the line to Chester from Acton Grange Junction, south of Warrington. The line from Shrewsbury to Chester via Wrexham is Route 14 (South and Central Wales and Borders) (until Saltney Junction).

The line is not electrified, so Virgin West Coast Pendolino trains have to be hauled by a diesel locomotive. The alternative to this is for them to use their Voyagers, which they have done since December 2007.

The main towns served by the route are listed below:

• Crewe
• Chester
  • Line diverges to serve Wrexham, Shrewsbury and Cardiff (via the Shrewsbury to Chester Line - Route 14)
  • Wirral Line diverges to serve Birkenhead and Liverpool - Route 21 (Merseyrail)
• Shotton
  • The Borderlands Line (part of Route 22) from Wrexham to Bidston crosses at Shotton with interchange facilities.
• Flint
• Prestatyn
• Rhyl
• Abergele
• Colwyn Bay
• Llandudno Junction
  • Lines diverge to serve Blaenau Ffestiniog (via the Conwy Valley Line) and Llandudno
• Conwy
• Penmaenmawr
• Llanfairfechan
• Bangor
• Llanfairpwll
  • Line diverges to Amlwch (Anglesey Central Railway, disused)
• Bodorgan
• Ty Croes
• Rhosneigr
• Valley
  • Freight from Wylfa nuclear power station is loaded at a depot in Valley
• Holyhead

The line contains several notable engineering structures, namely Conwy railway bridge across the River Conwy, and Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait.

So important was the line in the 19th and early 20th centuries to passenger, mail and freight traffic between Britain and Ireland that the world's first experimental and operational water troughs were installed at Mochdre between Colwyn Bay and Llandudno Junction. Their purpose being to enable steam engines (especially on the Irish Mail) to collect water without stopping. Later, considerable stretches of line between Chester and Colwyn Bay were quadrupled to increase line capacity but these sections have now been reduced to two tracks.

Principal through passenger services are London Euston to Holyhead and Llandudno operated by Virgin Trains and Crewe to Holyhead, Cardiff to Holyhead and Manchester to Llandudno currently operated by Arriva Trains Wales (who replaced First North Western). A very much revised North Wales Passenger Timetable has operated since 11 December 2005 incorporating a new service to and from Cardiff Central every two hours. The line still provides the UK railway part of the through passenger service to Dublin using fast car ferries from Holyhead to Dublin Port or Dún Laoghaire. From Dún Laoghaire railway station the DART trains connect with Dublin Connolly. Dublin Connolly can also be reached by Irish Ferries from Dublin Port by Dublin Bus operates a service from the Ferry Terminal to Busáras, which is around the corner of Store Street following the tram tracks left into Amiens Street for Dublin Connolly station. Dublin Bus route 53 or to take a taxi.