Barry Tourist Railway

The Barry Tourist Railway is a railway developed to attract visitors to Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. It is a key element of the Barry Rail Centre which also includes engineering and training facilities. An unusual aspect of the railway is that for several hundred yards across the Causeway from Barry to Barry Island, the trackbed used is directly alongside the Network Rail track which uses the original up line, with the Barry Tourist Railway using the down line. This continues from Barry to cross the Causeway and 149-yard Barry Island viaduct after which the two lines diverge into separate platforms at Barry Island. The Railway does not consider itself a line but more of a network as it has two different routes. This is reflected in the map below, with Network Rail shown in red. In November 2008, the landowner the Vale of Glamorgan Council, undertook a commercial tender exercise, which terminated the lease of previous operator the Vale of Glamorgan Railway in favour of a private operator, Cambrian Transport under a 20-year-long lease. Operations commenced in December 2009 and a full year's programme of services operated during 2010. Details are shown on the Council website. Services have been operated by IRIS II DMU, Class 26 No. 26038, Class 73s 73118 & 73133 with GATEX coaches set in push-pull mode, Class 20 20228, Class 08 08503, 0-6-0 Pannier Tank locomotive No. 9466, Great Western Steam Rail Motor No. 93, Metropolitan Tank No. 1, Hunslet 0-6-0T Jessie and even an 8F tender loco.

The Barry Tourist Railway is a railway developed to attract visitors to Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. It is a key element of the Barry Rail Centre which also includes engineering and training facilities. An unusual aspect of the railway is that for several hundred yards across the Causeway from Barry to Barry Island, the trackbed used is directly alongside the Network Rail track which uses the original up line, with the Barry Tourist Railway using the down line. This continues from Barry to cross the Causeway and 149-yard Barry Island viaduct after which the two lines diverge into separate platforms at Barry Island. The Railway does not consider itself a line but more of a network as it has two different routes. This is reflected in the map below, with Network Rail shown in red. In November 2008, the landowner the Vale of Glamorgan Council, undertook a commercial tender exercise, which terminated the lease of previous operator the Vale of Glamorgan Railway in favour of a private operator, Cambrian Transport under a 20-year-long lease. Operations commenced in December 2009 and a full year's programme of services operated during 2010. Details are shown on the Council website. Services have been operated by IRIS II DMU, Class 26 No. 26038, Class 73s 73118 & 73133 with GATEX coaches set in push-pull mode, Class 20 20228, Class 08 08503, 0-6-0 Pannier Tank locomotive No. 9466, Great Western Steam Rail Motor No. 93, Metropolitan Tank No. 1, Hunslet 0-6-0T Jessie and even an 8F tender loco.