WORKERS on the site of Corwen’s upcoming railway station have received a visit from the chairman of the UK’s largest railway owner company.

The workers, who are volunteering with the Llangollen Railway Trust to help build the Corwen Central Station, welcomed Sir Peter Hendy, chairman of Network Rail, who was taken on a tour of the works on Wednesday to see what the volunteers had achieved so far.

To date, the project has seen track laid at the western end and the major part of the platform has been built with subway access.

Following a briefing about the project to build the new station, Mr Hendy was taken on an escorted tour of the site to see what had been achieved so far and plans for the completion of the project in time for its anticipated opening in 2019.

Mr Hendy said: “It is quite hard to build a railway station, as all at Network Rail know, and Llangollen Railway is doing a brilliant job to build to modern standards.”

A spokesperson for the Llangollen Railway Trust, which is overseeing the project, said: “[Mr Hendy] was full of praise for the volunteer effort [and] noted that many of the challenges and costs the project faces are similar to those encountered by Network Rail in building stations on the national network.

“As a standard gauge railway serving two towns within the outstanding beauty of the Dee Valley, it is important that the Llangollen Railway is able to offer the modern visitor more than just a steam train ride.”

Richard Dixon-Gough, project manager, added: “We were thrilled that Sir Peter found time to visit us and show his appreciation for what we are achieving at the new build Corwen station.”

Work is now underway to construct a second platform wall and complete the station’s island platform.