A NETWORK of abandoned underground tunnels have been transformed and reopened to the public. The Tregarth Railway Tunnels in Wales were once part of a passenger railway line. And they have now been opened up to a new generation of travellers. The 4.25-mile single-track connecting Bangor and Bethesda was authorised in 1880.
![[A network of abandoned underground tunnels have been transformed and reopened]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/100-years-ago-totally-transformed-959440960.png?strip=all&w=810)
It climbed over 300ft from its junction with the North Wales main line at Bangor. But it required two viaducts and two tunnels to navigate rivers and hillsides. Messrs Thomas Nelson & Co of Carlisle were appointed at a cost of around £70,000 to construct the route for the London & North Western Railway.
![[The Tregarth Railway Tunnels in Wales were once part of a passenger railway line]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/100-years-ago-totally-transformed-959440959.png?strip=all&w=960)
There were two tunnels at Tregarth - No.1 Tunnel at just 27yds and No.2 Tunnel - known as Tynal Tywyll - stretching for 297yds. Those tunnels were blasted through the rock by dynamite - a dangerous job with two deaths linked to the construction of the line.
![[The tunnels were blasted through the rock by dynamite]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/100-years-ago-totally-transformed-959441025.png?strip=all&w=960)
Isaac Jones, 25, from Ceredigion died after blowing off both of his legs while testing a piece of dynamite on March 2, 1883. Roland Evans, 35, died after being consumed by a fall of rock and brickwork after a period of heavy rain while working on the line on March 12, 1885.
![[Two deaths were linked to the construction of the line]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/100-years-ago-totally-transformed-959441032.png?strip=all&w=960)
The line opened to passengers in June of 1884 and was first used by goods trains in the summer of 1885. There were two smaller stations on the route at Tregarth and Felin Hen. The passenger train service was six trains each way daily, but railmotors - a lightweight railcar - were introduced in 1908.
