The reopening of a 7 mile stretch of disused railway line linking Caernarfon to the rest of the network is back on the cards.
 
Railway enthusiasts believe it "makes no sense" for a 7 mile gap in a 90 mile circular route around and through Snowdonia and want the line from Caernarfon to Bangor re-opened.
 
Draft plans have been drawn up and discussed by volunteers at the Ffestiniog amp; Welsh Highland Railway (F&WHR) who are keen to start on another project.
 
The railway closed in 1970 and track and some bridges removed but the trackbed still exists.
 
To allow its reopening a bridge would have to be rebuilt at Felinheli, a filled-in embankment at Balaclava Square Caernarfon dug out, and a tunnel at Faenol cleared.
 
The section from Felinheli to Caernarfon has been converted into a cycle way.
 
Volunteers managed to reopen the 26 mile long Welsh Highland Railway from Dinas to Porthmadog in stages at a cost of about £28 million.
 
F&WHR spokesman Andrew Thomas said, "My favoured plan would be standard gauge from Menai Bridge (where it branches off the main North Wales line) to Caernarfon where the car park near Morrisons could be a station. The narrow gauge WHR could continue from the current station through the tunnel under the Maes. We believe the whole thing could be done for well under £40 million, one thousandth of the cost of HS2."
 

The F&WHR temporary ticket office at Caernarfon with the Maes Tunnel portal visible above the cars to the right - Date? Photographer?

The proposal is backed by Dwyfor Meirionnydd AM Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas.
 
He said it would give tourism a vital boost as well as benefit commuters.
 
I'm behind it 100 percent.
 
This would allow visitors to North Wales the opportunity to travel from Llandudno down the Conwy Valley to Blaenau Ffestiniog from where there is an easy connection with the Ffestiniog Railway to Porthmadog where work is being carried out to upgrade Harbour Station for the Welsh Highland line to Caernarfon.
 
"Reopening the line to Bangor would square the circle. I am very much in favour of this project and reopening the line from Gaerwen to Llangefni as well which would help revive the whole region."
 
A Network Rail spokesman said, "Any proposal would need to be backed up with a business plan, funding, and a clear need for reopening."
 
The line closed to passengers in 1970 soon after Prince Charles' (no King) Investiture at Caernarfon Castle.
 
It was originally part of a larger network of rural branch lines from Caernarfon before they all closed as part of the Beeching cuts.
 
Reopening the line remains a "long-term aspiration" in the North Wales regional transport plan.
 
Arriva Trains Wales proposed restoring the line and others as part of their bid for the all-Wales franchise awarded to them in 2003.
 
But documents obtained by the Daily Post two years later showed these plans were blocked by the now defunct Strategic Rail Authority who claimed they were "not practicable".
 
Eryl Crump.