On Saturday, 25th April, the Branch Line Society is running the “Gerald of Wales / Y Gerallt Gymro” special train from Holyhead to Swansea.

Organised in aid of the Railway Children charity, the train will depart from Holyhead at 07:08 and stop to pick up passengers at Bangor (Gwynedd), Llandudno Junction, Colwyn Bay, Rhyl, Prestatyn, Chester, Crewe, and Shrewsbury.

A stop for passengers who wish to visit Cardiff will be made at Newport, and the train will arrive at Swansea at 13:17 for a near-three-hour visit.

The train will consist of a Class 67 locomotive hauling a Mark 4 set of carriages. Organised in partnership with the 225 Group and Transport for Wales, the Branch Line Society has named the tour “Gerald of Wales / Y Gerallt Gymro” in recognition of Transport for Wales services between North and South Wales. On this tour, the train will travel non-stop along the Welsh Marches route between Shrewsbury and Newport.

The co-organiser of the tour, the 225 Group, was formed in January 2021 to preserve the memories of InterCity 225 high-speed electric trains.

They were the mainstay of services on the East Coast Main line, between 1989 and 2020, with Class 91 electric locomotives as the motive power.

When these were superseded by new Hitachi Class 80x ‘Azuma’ trains, some of the Mark 4 sets were transferred to Transport for Wales for services from South Wales to Holyhead and Manchester.

Tickets for the tour cost £99 for adults and £79 for under 18s in Standard Class, and £225 for adults and £205 for under 18s in First Class. Passengers in First Class will be served a full Welsh breakfast on the outward journey, a three-course evening meal, and a 75cl bottle of house wine for adults on the return trip. Discounts are available for members of the Branch Line Society, the 225 Group, and Transport for Wales staff.

In March, the Branch Line Society is running a three-day tour of Scotland with all profits being donated to the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (GOSH). Last December, GB Railfreight honoured the society by naming one of its locomotives Branch Line Society.